For the first time, the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Awards will stream live on RTÉ 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.
Held under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland (ADCI), the 2025 RTÉ AIDF will take place from 8th – 16th May in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone.
The plays included in this year’s RTÉ AIDF final include several adaptations for stage, a premiere of an Irish adaptation of a play, two amateur premieres, a farce and a black comedy.
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, 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. In Murphy's acclaimed play, 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 Conor McPherson's The Weir 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 last year’s winners of the Abbey Award, Wexford Drama Group, will perform Skylight written by David Hare, a beautiful and biting romance set in 1990’s London.
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 Simon 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.
The RTÉ AIDF will also have a packed programme of fringe events including the annual Schools Playwright competition and the Athlone Film Festival.
At the RTÉ AIDF launch 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, quoting legendary drama coach 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.
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".
Tickets for the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival can be booked through the Dean Crowe website or via the theatre box office, phone (090) 6492129. Find out more about this year's RTÉ AIDF here.
