|
|
 |
DLI NEWSLETTER 8 OCTOBER 2020
|
|
A MESSAGE from JOANNE KEANE
|
 Dear DLI Members and friends
The disappointing, but not unexpected news came from the NEC of the ADCI that the 3-Act Drama Festival Circuit 2021 has been cancelled (see below). While hard to hear, it was not entirely unexpected. It is the only safe option under the current circumstances. An alternative is being explored and a sub-committee has been set up to liaise with DLI. Plans will be announced when finalised. It's great to know there is still hope for a play competition going on in Spring 2021.
UPDATE from the NEC of the ADCI
(Posted on the ADCI Facebook page 7th October 2020)
Drama Friends
In light of further developments in the increase of Covid-19 across the island of Ireland the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland has made the difficult decision to cancel the 3-Act Festival Circuit Competition for 2021. We have however been working on an alternative and this will be made public in the coming weeks depending on the National Health Advice. Stay safe everyone...
It was fantastic to see the energy and enthusiasm of all who made it to the DLI Outreach Summer School workshops. It’s such a pity the last two planned workshops in Birr and Dundrum can’t go ahead due to Covid restrictions. However, those that took place around the country in Ballyshannon, Ballina, Coolgreany, Cork (Whitechurch), Corofin, Navan, and the Virtual Voice Online Masterclass were a great success. We are grateful to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the funding which enabled them to happen.
Hope you all continue to support those in the performing Arts in these challenging times, have plans for creating drama yourselves and above all stay safe until we come out the other side.
PS For any DLI members wishing to borrow plays from the DLI Library, email Valerie on office@dli.ie or phone 089 2356672 and she will post them out when she is next in the DLI Office.
Yours in drama
Joanne
DLI Chairperson
|
|
The 2020 DLI Magazine should be making its way to your doors next week! Editor Christine O'Brien promises a packed issue which will keep you all reading as the nights grow longer. We hope you enjoy it!
Cover features Irene Yore in Millrace DG's Treat on the Street.
Photo: Seamus Yore
|
|
DLI/ADCI PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
|
 Calling all playwrights, the countdown is on...
You only have until Wednesday 14 October to get your new one act play wrapped up and emailed to walker.ewart@gmail.com for the DLI/ADCI New Playwriting Competition. The fabulous prize of a week in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig is sponsored by the 6&6 ADCI/DLI Joint Committee to foster new writing.
In, this, the fourth year of the award, there has been an enthusiastic response from playwrights around the country. All details, including rules of entry, on www.dli.ie.
|
|
 DLI IT Co-Ordinator Emma Jane Nulty is calling all DLI members! She wants photos of recent productions to post on the DLI website banner slideshow - see www.dli.ie for reference.
The photographs must be landscape, and high resolution up to 8MB. The top area of the shot should be dark/black in order to blend with the navigation graphic on the website.
Send your photos, or ask for further information, to ejnulty@icloud.com
|
|
 DLI Membership Secretary, Mary Newman, writes:
No Drama at Ennis One Act Finals this winter, but in order to keep the spirit of competition alive, we’re planning to host a nationwide online table quiz on Bank Holiday Monday October 26 (facilitated by www.table.fish.The format was devised during the early stages of Lockdown and has been tried and tested since!). All groups and individual members are welcome to take part.
At this stage, we’d like to get an idea of how many teams will participate. Once we have the numbers, we’ll send out clear instructions about how to play. For now, especially under the current circumstances, it’s enough to know that everyone can take part from their own home. You’ll need access to YouTube either on a phone, a tablet/laptop or a Smart TV.
If you’d like to enter as a team, or as an individual, please let us know by Sunday October 11.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Mary Newman
086 8159828
louis.mnewman@gmail.com
|
|
TEARING IT ASUNDER in NAVAN
|
Navan Theatre Group member Ciara Cassoni writes:
 On Saturday 26 September, a group of eager amateur actors and directors finally got to tread the boards again, on the stage of The Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, under the guidance of the great Padraic McIntyre (pictured left). We were Tearing It Asunder - breaking down the fine art of acting and directing, in order to build it back up again.
So many of we drama enthusiasts were sorely disappointed when the 2020 DLI Summer School was understandably cancelled due to the dreaded virus, but DLI were not going to let that be the end of it! We were thrilled when they announced their series of Outreach Workshops around the country and we at Navan Theatre Group were particularly happy to be asked to host one of their events. The Solstice was the place to host this day in a safe yet eventful way.
The thrill of standing on (a socially distanced!) stage again can’t be overestimated. Padraic made it feel safe and exciting and you could feel the sense of anticipation as we began in earnest to tear it asunder. He guided us through warm-ups both physical and vocal, making sense of each exercise in a practical way – there was a reason for everything we did.
He showed us how to break down a scene piece by piece, sentence by sentence, and, for any budding directors this was a constructive and invaluable process. Everything that Padraic showed us we got to put into practice ourselves, choosing if we wanted to focus on the acting aspect or the directing side of the pieces we were given.
Padraic has a way of directing that is organic and brings out the best in every actor – something that I found is not as easy as he makes it look! He showed us how the whole process is a collaboration between the director and the actor - it’s like a dance, learning one step at a time, going to and fro until you have captured the essence of the story. He explored every word, every nuance in the scripts we were working with and found something in there that the less experienced eye might miss.
In six short hours I learned a lot about the art of tearing it asunder and took home many little snippets of invaluable advice from Padraic. I think any of us who act, be it amateur or professional, have a bit of an ego to feed and Padraic knows exactly how to use that to a director’s advantage – he told us that when a director wants to change or add something in a piece Let the actor think they came up with that idea themselves!
Unfortunately there will be little onstage action for the remainder of the year around the country and around the world, but I, for one, am thankful to the DLI and the workshops they managed to bring around the country in such turbulent times. It brought us back to what we love and gave us pause to think about the ways we can keep the drama going – because no matter how small it may be, from Zoom readings, to recordings, to outdoors and socially distanced performances – the show must go on!
Ciara Cassoni
NTG Drama Group
Thanks to Elaine McLoughlin for photos of the day below...
|
|
 From Ennis Players' Bernie Harten:
Ennis Players were thrilled to be back on stage last week with a Rehearsed Reading of Glorious! by Peter Quilter, as part of glór's The Play's the Thing series. Based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, operatic diva extraordinaire, this delightful comedy moves from Jenkins' bizarre recording sessions right up to her triumphant appearance in Carnegie Hall!
The auditorium had been turned into an intimate cabaret space and the huge stage gave ample space for social distancing. Audience, cast and glór staff were all equally delighted to be back with live theatre. Unfortunately, it was short-lived and the upcoming planned productions from Muse Productions, Corofin DS & Sliabh Aughty DG in the same series all have to be postponed for the moment following Level 3 Covid restrictions.
www.glor.ie
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
