Sligo Drama Circle Tackle New Play

Sligo Drama Circle go into action again on February 24th when, at Sligo Town Hall, they will give Sligo audiences a preview of this year’s festival production. The choice this season is John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”, which has been adapted for the stage from the original short story. “Of Mice and Men” is in sharp contrast with the Circle’s festival plays of the past few seasons in that this play takes a very gentle, if somewhat controversial, look at man’s condition. Rehearsals are already at an advanced stage and the high standard of previous festival offerings promises to be maintained. The Circle won the All-Ireland Trophy in 1970 and have filled second spot in the competition in the last two years. This year they will be going all out to bring the Esso trophy back to Sligo.

A number of new faces will be appearing in the production. Michael Kilcoyne takes the part of George and Columb Mc Bride and John Caheny will also make their first appearances in Sligo. There are also a number of well-known players such as Cormac Sheridan, who made a tremendous impact in “The Crucible” and “Philadelphia, Here I Come” and Deirdre Gallagher, who had a memorable performance as Blanche in “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Also in the cast are George Molloy, Manus Shields and Lionel Gallagher who plays what is possibly Steinbeck’s loveliest character creation, Candy. Padraig Foran and Frank Brannigan play out a pathetic father-son relationship and generally the production achieves a nice blend of old and new faces.

Direction is again in the hands of Liam Mc Kinney who won the award for best director at the All-Ireland final in 1970 and ’71 and other regional awards over the past five years. He regards this play as one of the most delicate he has handled and feels confident the Circle can bring back All-Ireland honours to Sligo, particularly in view of their innovations with settings.

from The Sligo Champion, February 2nd, 1973