Sligo Drama Circle – 50 Years A-Growing

Sligo Drama Circle, celebrating fifty years of drama in Sligo, represents the best tradition of drama in Ireland’s North-West. From very humble beginnings in the 1950’s where many Sligo people got the chance to tread the boards of Sligo Town Hall, to the present day where young and old have the chance to grace the stage of the Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo Drama Circle have been to the forefront in bringing to Sligo audiences the best of Irish and international theatre. Having grown up in an Ireland where there were no televisions and limited cinema, Sligo Drama Circle and its forerunner, Sligo Unknown Players, played an essential role in entertaining the people of Sligo.

There is a strong and rich tradition of drama in Sligo and Wood-Martin’s “History of Sligo” informs us that from about 1750 there existed a theatre in Sligo. The original building was near the quay, and this was subsequently moved to the vicinity of the Linen-Hall. Apparently his Majesty’s servants from the Theatre Royal, Crow St. occasionally visited Sligo, even during the Dublin Season, showing that in those days the townsfolk appreciated the drama, for in some instances the company remained for several months.

The Sligo Drama Circle was founded in October 1956 to promote good standards of community theatre and increase the range of plays available to Sligo audiences. The first play was produced on November 21st 1956 and since then, the Circle has produced the works of major Irish, European and American playwrights. The group has won awards all over Ireland including the Ulster Drama Cup in May 1967 at the Opera House, Belfast with J. M. Synge’s “The Playboy of the Western World” and the All-Ireland Esso Trophy in April 1970 with Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”. The Circle also achieved an excellent second place in the All-Ireland with its first production of Gerard Healy’s “Thy Dear Father” in 1957. The Circle has had a long association with the Sligo Yeats Society, performing the plays of W. B. Yeats and other writers of the Irish Literary Renaissance at the Yeats International Summer School from 1966 to the early 1990’s.

In 1970 the group launched a “Theatre For Sligo” project which sought to provide a properly equipped and professionally run theatre for both players and audiences in Sligo. In February 1974, Bishop Dominic Conway announced his intention to present a site on Temple Street to the Drama Circle for the purpose of building a new theatre. This was a huge step forward for the Drama Circle. The magnificent site is a perfect garden setting adjacent to Sligo’s two cathedrals, a site worthy of a theatre to grace a lovely old town.

Much fund-raising was done and profit from summer seasons went towards this visionary project. When the Drama Circle’s plan for a theatre in Sligo was presented to the Arts Council of Ireland, the Arts Council saw an opportunity and made an offer to the Drama Circle. The Arts Council, along with North West Tourism (as it was then known), Sligo County Council and Sligo Borough Council recognised this need for a designated, well-equipped cultural centre in Sligo and offered to find the funding to build and maintain a theatre on the Temple Street site. The theatre would be professionally run and would facilitate touring professional performing artists as well as community arts groups. The Sligo Drama Circle agreed, signed over the land, and soon after, construction began on the first purpose-built theatre west of the Shannon at that time. In January 1982 the Hawk’s Well Theatre opened on a site shared with Donegal – Sligo – Leitrim Tourism. The official opening on January 12th, 1982 was presided over by then President of Ireland Patrick Hillery in a Gala Evening that included performances by the Sligo Drama Circle, Sligo Choral Society, Sligo Comhaltas Ceoltóiri Éireann and, in the theatre’s inaugural production, Druid Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”.

The theatre was named after the play by W. B. Yeats which has been produced many times by the Circle. In the programme notes of our March 1982 show we made the following comment:

“We hope that the Sligo Drama Circle and the Hawk’s Well Theatre will have a long and happy association and that the words of Yeats about his own Hawk’s Well be prophetically true – ‘He who drinks, they say, of that miraculous water lives forever’ “.

Many familiar faces have been associated with the Sligo Drama Circle over the years. Brian Friel, author of “Dancing at Lughnasa”, officially launched the Circle’s programme of summer theatre in 1973. John Mc Gahern, celebrated author of books such as “Memoir”, “Amongst Women”, “The Barracks” and “The Dark” officially launched the summer season of theatre by the Sligo Drama Circle in 1976. RTE’s Northern Correspondent, Tommy Gorman, tread the boards in 1976 in “Calvary”. David Kelly, star of stage and screen, directed Sligo Drama Circle’s production of “The Evidence I shall Give” in 1962. Maria Mc Dermottroe, star of stage and screen, started her career with the Sligo Drama Circle. Joan O’ Hara, “Fair City” TV actor, also played with the Sligo Drama Circle.

One particular highlight in the history of the Sligo Drama Circle has to be the trip to St. Louis, USA in 1989 with the production of Seán O’ Casey’s “Juno and the Paycock”. Director, backstage crew and actors were invited to bring our hugely successful production to that American city. We spent a week in St. Louis around St. Patrick’s Day as guests of our American hosts, performing the play in the Sheldon Theatre over two nights. Accompanied by the Mayor of Sligo and “Queen Maeve”, we participated in the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and were feted night after night by our generous hosts. “Les Miserables” was playing in the theatre next door and we even managed to persuade some members of the public to leave the queue and pay $15 to see our Irish production. We were also more than surprised to discover that the public could pay a further $10 to meet the cast post-performance at the “After-Glow Party”.

Sligo Drama Circle continues its strong and active presence in the vibrant local arts scene. We are the envy of many groups throughout the county as we have our own purpose-built rehearsal space in the Market Yard, together with storage for sets, props and costumes. This space is also used by other groups for rehearsals. Usually two large productions are presented each year, and smaller productions are performed in our own rehearsal space. We continue to be associated with the Sligo Talking Newspaper, where we record “The Sligo Champion” for those with visual difficulties. Our latest venture has been the development of the Young People’s section of the Drama Circle. The group of young teenagers meet weekly with a facilitator and they devise their own improvised pieces for performance. The Circle has also just recently launched its presence on the world wide web with their new website at www.sligodramacircle.ie

Our celebrations for our 50th Anniversary kicked off earlier this year with our production of Shelagh Stevenson’s “The Memory of Water”. In association with this production, we put on an exhibition of a selection of our memorabilia in the foyer of the Hawk’s Well Theatre. A Gala Night was held during this production where many of our past members and friends from other drama groups joined us in our celebrations. Our latest production of Neil Simon’s hit comedy “The Sunshine Boys” opens next week on November 21st, co-incidentally 50 years to the day from our very first performance.

Sligo Drama Circle is proud of the rich heritage and tradition which our drama has created in Sligo but we are also indebted to the founders of the group who had the foresight to set up the group in the first place. The first fifty years has been a hive of dramatic activity and the future promises to be just as active.

Compiled for DLI Magazine, 2006