Festival programme promises a feast of drama, an action-packed fringe festival and a live stream www.rte.ie 

The 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival, held under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland (ADCI), will take place from 8th – 16th May in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone. As part of this year’s All-Ireland Drama Festival (AIDF), the nine finalist drama groups gathered in Athlone on Sunday 13th April to attend the official draw for the line-up for the RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival Final.

The plays included in this year’s RTÉ AIDF Final – listed in the Programme below – are wide-ranging and include several adaptations for stage, a premiere of an Irish adaptation of a play, two amateur premieres, a farce and a black comedy.

For the first time, the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Awards will stream live on www.rte.ie/culture at 9pm on Saturday 17th May. With awards for achievements both on and off stage, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Stage Design, the stakes are high to see who will win the coveted Perpetual Trophy and The Abbey Theatre Award.

At the launch today in the Abbey Theatre, new Festival Director, Michael McGlone, opened the proceedings acknowledging the importance of the continued support of the national broadcaster and the national theatre, and thanked Kevin Bakhurst,  Director General RTÉ, Mark O’Brien, Director, Abbey Theatre and Liam Hannaway, Chairperson of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, all of whom were in attendance. Quoting Stella Adler who said that, ‘The play is not in the words, it’s in you’, he wondered was she thinking of the RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival.

He added: “I look forward to welcoming all nine finalist groups to Athlone, including the three groups who are returning to the final after a period of absence. I have attended a number of drama festivals around the country and I have been so impressed with the calibre of productions taking place on our stages. With such a high standard now being consistently achieved in amateur drama throughout the island of Ireland and with a wonderful programme of performances lined up, audiences are in for a real treat at the RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival in May. I can’t wait.”

Speaking at the launch, RTÉ Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst said: “I am delighted to return to our national theatre on behalf of RTÉ for the launch of this wonderful celebration of amateur drama across Ireland. The RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival is unique in the way it brings together community groups from all over the country who give their all as they take to the stage and proudly represent their communities. 

In what is the 21st anniversary of the partnership between RTÉ and the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival, it is great to see such an exciting week of the very best in amateur drama in the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone. I am also delighted that RTÉ will mark this milestone by streaming the Gala Awards live on RTE.ie on Saturday 17th May. RTÉ’s continued support of the festival recognises the vital role it plays in celebrating local communities and those who contribute so much to them.  I’d like to congratulate the organising committee and wish all this year’s finalist amateur drama groups the very best of luck.” 

The Programme

Opening the 2025 Festival, on Thursday 8th May will be Ballycogley Players, directed by Pat Whelan, who return to the Festival with the farce, ‘Lend Me A Tenor’ by Ken Ludwig. Set in 1934, the play follows the misadventures of a small opera company on the night of their biggest performance.

On Friday 9th May, Brideview Drama Group, directed by Jack Aherne, return to Athlone to perform ‘The Weir’ by Conor McPherson. This is a haunting play with its roots in Irish folklore.

Bradán Players, directed by Réidín Dunne, take to the stage on Saturday 10th May, with their production of ‘Little Gem’ by Elaine Murphy.  One year can bring extraordinary change; just ask three generations of North Dublin women who find themselves suddenly facing the unexpected.

Corofin Dramatic Society, directed by John Clancy return to Athlone, and will also present a performance of ‘The Weir’ by Conor McPherson on Sunday 11th May.

Last year’s winners, Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, take to the stage on Monday 12th May with ‘The Blackwater Lightship’ by Colm Toibín, adapted for the stage by David Horan. It’s 90’s Ireland and HIV/AIDS is still a terminal diagnosis. Can a makeshift family unit face up to the illness of a young man who has the disease and each other?

On Tuesday 13th May Wexford Drama Group will perform ‘Skylight’ written by David Hare, which is a beautiful and biting romance set in 1990’s London. A schoolteacher receives an unexpected visit from her former lover. As the evening progresses, they attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Balally Players, return to Athlone on Wednesday 14th May. Directed by Declan Rudden, they will perform ‘Ulster American’, a black comedy written by David Ireland. An Oscar-winning actor, a director and a playwright meet. The stage is set for success but when they meet to discuss the play’s challenges and provocations a line is crossed, and their heated discussion quickly escalates into violence.

Bridge Drama, directed by Susan Somers, present a play based on the bestselling book ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon, adapted for the stage by Simons Stephens on Thursday 15th May.  Christopher Francis Boone is fifteen years old. He embarks on his own investigation to find the killer of his neighbour’s dead dog, but the truth turns his world upside down.

On 16th May, Newpoint Players, directed by Sean Treanor, will present Sean’s own adaptation of Joshua Sobol’s 1984 play “Ghetto”. Set in the Jewish ghetto of Vilna, Lithuania, in 1942, and based on diaries written during the darkest days of the holocaust, Ghetto tells of the unlikely flourishing of a theatre at the very time the Nazis began their policy of mass extermination.

Tickets for the festival are on sale from Tuesday 15th April and can be booked through the Dean Crowe website at http://www.deancrowetheatre.com/  or at the theatre box office, phone (090) 6492129. Admission €25 (includes a €2 Booking Fee). Concessions are available.

Stream the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Awards live on www.rte.ie/culture at 9pm on Saturday 17th May.

Fringe events

The RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone will also have a packed programme of fringe events including two fringe highlights, the annual Schools Playwright competition and the Athlone Film Festival.  Now in its 12th  year, the Schools Playwright competition attracted entries from TY students from 14 counties. Sponsored again by St Jarlath’s Credit Union the awards ceremony takes place on Tuesday 6th May.

The Athlone Film Festival in the IMC on Saturday 3rd May features seven short films with a panel discussion with directors/actors afterwards. Expected to sell out, it is preceded on the evening of Friday 2nd May with a free networking event, ‘meet & greet’, from 6.30pm in TUS Athlone showcasing up and coming local and Irish filmmakers.

ENDS

For information:

Neil O’Gorman, Corporate Communications Manager, RTÉ | E: neil.ogorman@rte.ie