Drama aplenty in county Longford as Bog Lane Theatre stages annual festival

It's all go in Ballymahon as the local drama centre prepares to stage their annual One Act Festival. This year they boast a programme of top quality drama.

The town will become a hotbed of drama this weekend as Bog Lane Theatre play host to their 2024 One Act Festival.

The festival is part of the annual circuit that sees theatre groups compete in open and confined sections for the coveted All Ireland Drama title.

The annual circuit sees theatre groups compete in open and confined sections for the coveted All Ireland Drama title. This year the All Ireland One Act Finals will be taking place in The Moat Club in The Moat Theatre, Naas, Co Kildare.

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All around the country festivals are taking place and the nine best plays, all of them multi award winners, will progress to Naas for the All-Ireland One-Act Finals 2024.

Two Longford groups are on circuit. Cilleo Yew Tree Players are in eight spot. They will participate in five festival outings with Dead Man's Bells and have one win under their belt giving them 12 points.

Mostrim Players are on circuit with Storm Seamus. They will also participate in five of the Festivals and already have a second and third place award under their belt giving them seven points putting them in 14th place overall.

Ballymahon will host their annual leg of the one Act Festival this weekend. The Bog Lane Theatre Festival starts this Friday, November 15 and runs until Sunday, November 17 featuring productions from companies across Ireland.

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On Friday Shannonside Drama Group presents A Matter of Life and Death, while the Torch Players stage Poker Night.

On Saturday Down at Heel Productions bring us They Also Serve, with Wilde River Drama Group Ballinrobe staging Aubade and

The Kilrush Drama Group present Normal.

On the final day, Sunday has a strong local feel as Cilleo Yew Tree Players perform Dead Man's Bells, Mostrim Players present Storm Seamus and The Corn Mill Theatre Group stage Melody.

Sunday will see the two Longford groups go head to head. 'Deadman’s Bells' written by Meabh de Brún, is a dark comedy Gothic rural tale of inheritance, rivalry and misdeeds told by three sisters.

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The story revolves around three sisters, one brother, and a farm that’s up for grabs, with a balance of dark and the craic onstage in a journey of familial bickering and twisting tales.

The fast paced and snappy dialogue sees each of the three actors take on a number of characters.

Mostrim Players present Vanessa Flood's one-act play, ‘Storm Seamus’. It is set in the heart of a small, rural Irish village. On that night, when a storm sweeps through the countryside, the entire area is swept into darkness. The only place that has a generator is Seamus’s Pub.

The character of Seamus, the barman, is played by local actor Jimmy Connell from Edgeworthstown who is widely known on social media for his character Jimmy Jest. There are also two other local actors Richie Cheevers (Tony) and Annette Casey (Freda), who are no strangers to the stage.