March 2016 A Feast of Irish Student Drama in Galway

The Irish Student Drama Association (ISDA) Festival, hosted by NUI Galway’s Drama Society, will run in Galway from 14-23 March. The ten-day festival will hold 18 productions in five venues throughout the city including The Mick Lally Theatre, An Taibhdhearc and The Bank of Ireland Theatre, NUI Galway.

Over the years ISDA has acted as the starting point in the careers of such theatre heavyweights as Michael Colgan, Conor McPherson, Fiona Shaw, Alan Stanford, Barry McGovern, Cian O’Brien and Tom Creed from Rough Magic, and Garry Hynes from Druid, as well as other well-known names like actress Pauline McLynn and comedian Chris O’Dowd to name but a few.

The programme features a variety of productions from new works to acclaimed classics, including such classics as Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and The Beauty Queen of Leenane from the NUI Galway Drama Society and Misterman from Queens University’s QU Players.

Trinity College’s DU Players will present Mercury Fur and Freak, with both plays exploring sexuality and life in a ravaged world where humanity is the bargaining chip. Queens QU Players bring us back to 1953 America where everything is about to change in Dinner without Joe, and in Delkany Ploy one man's pursuit of true love may mean his death.

Maynooth University Drama Society present Doubt in which the characters must confront their own faith and doubt as everything they know is challenged. UCC’s Butterfly Kiss brings the audience into the world of Lily in her jail cell where she is incarcerated for matricide. In Exit the King, DIT’s Drama Society will present the absurdist world of Eugene Lonesco. DCU Dramsoc will present two plays on the themes of youth and Nothing to Declare, a devised piece based on interviews of people who have migrated to a new city, country or continent.

Festival Director Oryana Farrell Hickey said: “NUI Galway Dramsoc is delighted to host the national awards and we hope that Galway, with its international reputation for excellent theatre, will join is a feast of drama over the duration of the festival where enthusiasts will get the opportunity to see future dramatists in the making.”

The week will also include panel discussions, movie screenings workshops, murder mystery and a host of drama related entertainment all wrapping up with the gala awards ceremony on Wednesday, 23 March, where the much coveted awards will be announced.

NUI Galway’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance is one of the leading international centres for the study of Irish theatre and offers students and researchers a range of courses in the area of drama and theatre at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The University has partnerships with the Abbey Theatre and Druid Theatre Company and has particular expertise in Irish theatre, theatre archives, playwriting, and much more.

For full details and the timetable of events visit www.theisdafestival.com.

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