78th Ballymoney Drama Festival opens

All performances will be in Ballymoney Town Hall and start at 8pm, except on the Final Night when the play begins at 7.30pm.

Almost all of the plays on offer this year have been described as comedies but often the laughter is bittersweet. Lifford Players will open the Festival with Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh which certainly mixes humour with domestic tragedy. On Monday 6th, Rosemary Drama Group will stage Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale which combines history, misogyny and learning to dance the cancan! This will be followed on Tuesday by The Clarence Players’ production of The Mai by Marina Carr, a play set in the West of Ireland and focusing on four generations of the same family. Wednesday will bring Theatre 3 from Newtownabbey with Heroes by Gerald Sibleyras, translated by Tom Stoppard, a gentle comedy about three French war veterans and on Thursday The Bart Players will perform Summer, by the acclaimed Irish dramatist, Hugh Leonard, who said this was his favourite among his own plays. On Friday Holywood Players return with Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones, another comedy, this time about a modern-day Hamlet and the joys of bee-keeping by one of the writers of ITV hit series The Halcyon . The final production on Saturday 11th March will be Bangor Drama Club’s version of Lovers, two complimentary love stories by the late Brian Friel who was a Patron of the Festival for many years.

Season Tickets cost £45 (Concessions £40) and can be purchased from Ballymoney Town Hall between 10am and midday on Friday, February 17 and Saturday 18. Nightly Tickets, which cost £9 (Concessions £7) can also be bought at the Town Hall daily between 10am and 4pm from Wednesday, February 22 or nightly at the Box Office during the Festival. There are further reductions for school students and for group bookings.

A synopsis of each play can be found on the Festival publicity material and more detailed information about the productions is available on the Festival Website: www.ballymoneydramafestival.com