After Eighteen Years Eddie Returns to Centre Stage

“It revolutionised the whole amateur drama scene”, a comment made about J. B. Keane’s “Sive”. Like all revolutions it had its growing pains having been initially rejected by the Abbey but engendering so much excitement in the Limerick audience of 1959, the year of its first performance, that the Gardaí had to be called out. It went on to win the All-Ireland finals in Athlone and, of course, was the making of Keane as a dramatist. The Sligo Drama Circle will present “Sive” at the Hawks Well from Monday July 27th to Sunday August 2nd at 8.30pm. It seems, therefore, a very fitting production for the return of somebody to the Sligo stage who has been missing for far too long. Eddie Mc Dermottroe makes a welcome return after eighteen years absence. Eddie was first associated with the Sligo Unknown Players which will call to mind the name of Charlie Hughes to many Sligonians and then the Bernadette Players under the direction of the late Gerry Westby. He was a founder member of the Sligo Drama Circle and became its first Chairman.

As an actor, his performances are remembered both locally and nationally and deservedly he received numerous awards in drama festivals throughout Ireland. Some of his best known and most loved performances were Captain Boyle in “Juno and the Paycock”, for which he was awarded gold medals in Navan, Cavan, Roscommon, Tubbercurry and Ballinrobe; Old Mahon in “The Playboy of the Western World”; Colonel Ecardo in “Montserrat” for which he was awarded a gold medal in Galway and Navan and many others too numerous to mention. It is his great joy to return to the stage in this production of “Sive”. He numbers Pats Bocock as one of his favourite characters and “Sive” one of his favourite plays, having played it in 1969 in Sligo Town Hall, also directed by Walter Mc Donagh.

Joining Eddie in this production are other members of the original cast. Kay Guinane plays Nuala Glavin; Rory Callagy and Brian Bohan also take part. Kay’s tradition in the history of Sligo drama stretches back as far as Eddie’s, having also played with Sligo Unknown Players and the Bernadettes. Coincidentally, this production features another father-daughter team. In the 1969 production the part of Sive was played by Maria Mc Dermottroe, who has since gone on to become a professional actress and only recently returned from Hollywood where she took part in a film directed by John Houston. In this production Sive is played by Darina Gallagher, whose father, Lionel, plays “Seán Dota”. Darina, who has already been singled out by many for her notable performances in Sligo to date, could very well follow in the footsteps of her predecessor. The other names who complete the cast are Joe Meehan, Yvonne Curran and Dara Mc Moreland. “Sive”, full of tragedy, but not without humour, tells the story of a young girl forced to marry an old man due to the avaricious nature of her relatives. Actors who have played in “Sive” talk of the feeling of the audience participation and a sense of having taken part in a primitive ritual. I’m sure Sligo audiences will enjoy participating in this very dramatic performance when it run at the Hawks Well from Monday July 27th to Sunday August 2nd at 8.30pm.

from The Sligo Champion, July 24th, 1987