Meath Macra's Stars of the Stage

The cast and crew from Enfield Macra's production of 'Pvt Wars'. Back row (l-r) - Colin Burke, Dermot Connolly, Simon Ford. Front row (l-r) - Kevin Hanley, Adam Burke and Claire Lewis.

After many months of rehearsals, the casts of Enfield and Ardcath Macra were richly rewarded when they took home first and second place respectively in the Meath county round of Macra na Feirme's amateur drama competition. Both teams now go through to represent the county in the national semi-finals taking place over two nights on March 31 and April 1, 2012.

The competition, which took place on Sunday February 19 in St James' Hall Athboy, also saw Enfield's Dermot Connolly awarded Best Actor for his role as Woodruff Gately in 'Pvt. Wars', with Ardcath awarded Best Production for their play 'Bad Sunday'. Athboy's Aisling Kearney received the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Ma Kirby in 'The Happy Journey'. Commenting on the extremely high standard of both production and performance, the judges praised the actors, actresses and backstage crew, adding that it had made their decisions that much harder.

The cast from Ardcath Macra's production of 'Bad Sunday'. Back row (l-r) - Aisling Lawless, Theresa Murray, Leo Collins. Front row - John Kinsella and Angela Wall.

Enfield Macra opened with 'Pvt. Wars', a play dealing three Vietnam veterans recuperating in an Army hospital. Combining humour and compassion with uncompromising honesty, the play follows the irreverent doings of its exceptionally engaging characters and proved popular with both audience and judges alike.

Following Enfield was Athboy and their play - 'The Happy Journey'. In this family drama, Pa and Ma Kirby venture out of Newark with their two children, Caroline and Arthur, to visit their married daughter Beulah in Camden. Their journey punctuated by talk, laughter and memories. The minimal production, relying on a largely mimed set, proved another hit capturing the heart and imagination of the audience.

After the intermission, Ardcath took to the stage perform 'Bad Sunday', a comedy mining the once hallowed tradition of the Sunday drive to darkly comic effect. Da, Ma, Granny, Son and Daughter all piling into a borrowed Ford Zephyr for a daytrip to Howth Head. As their journey progresses ever eastwards, each member of the family begins to reveal their secrets, often to the surprise and disbelief of the rest.

The final play of the afternoon was 'The Pushcart Peddlers' performed by Carnaross Macra. Fresh from the country, the greenhorn Shimmel Shitzman meets the older, wiser Cornelius and is convinced to buy the latter's pushcart business. Complications arise, however, when Cornelius returns with another pushcart and proceeds to compete with Shimmel.

Enfield Macra - 'Pvt. Wars' 

Athboy Macra - 'The Happy Journey'

Ardcath Macra - 'Bad Sunday'

Carnaross Macra - 'The Pushcart Peddlers'