Curtain up on town’s 80th Drama Festival

Ballymoney Literary and Debating Society will open the Festival with Relatively Speaking by Alan Ayckbourn, a bitter and brilliantly sharp comedy of mistaken identity.

On Saturday, March 2, Theatre 3 from Newtownabbey will stage Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, a chilling psychological thriller about aggressive greed, madness and revenge. This will be followed on Monday, March 4 by Slemish Players’ production of Scenes from the Big Picture by Owen McCafferty, a play where private and public worlds collide in a panoramic portrait of a Belfast overshadowed by economic uncertainty and sporadic violence.

Tuesday will bring Rosemary Drama Group with Kiss Me Quickstep by Amanda Whittington, a bittersweet comedy set in the sequin-studded, yet surprisingly cut-throat, world of ballroom drama. On Wednesday Newpoint Players return with Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, an extraordinary absurdist tragicomedy, full of deadpan wit and linguistic invention. Following that on Friday will be The Clarence Players with Give Me Your Answer, Do! by Brian Friel, a Patron of Ballymoney Festival for many years, which examines a writer’s relationship to posterity.

The final production on Friday, March 8 will be Bart Player’s version of Stepping Out by Richard Harris, an uplifting comedy about an amateur dance class preparing to give their first public performance.

All performances start at 8pm, except on the Final Night when the play begins at 7:30pm.