Tabletopping Compántas Lir, the Claregalway/Carnmore drama group head to the All-Ireland Drama Finals in Castleblayney later this month having amassed the most points among all the confined drama groups in Ireland for their production of the David Auburn play Proof.
The multi-award-winning play directed by Dermot Hession, toured the country for the last two months, taking part in eight drama festivals and being named Best Play in seven of these.
Drama lovers who have seen it have been wowed by the production and Galway city audiences have an opportunity to see it again next week when it has a two-night run in An Taibhdhearc on Wednesday and Thursday April 13th and 14th.
Under the direction of Dermot Hession, actors Vincent Moran, Ruth O’Driscoll, Eoin McCarthy and Fionnuala Glynn, showcased their talents, picking up many acting nominations and awards along the way.
The group competed in eight festivals, winning best play in seven, and received awards for directing, acting and presentation. This is Dermot Hession’s second run on the festival circuit with a full length play, having previously enjoyed success as a director on the one-act circuit.
The two night run in Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, April 13th and April 14th, will be the last chance to see Proof before they travel to the finals.
Proof was originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club in May, 2000 and transferred to Broadway that same year. Along with winning the Pultizer Prize and Tony Award, the play also won the Lucile Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the Drama desk award for Best Play, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play.
On the eve of her 25th birthday, a troubled young woman’s exceptionally talented but unstable father, genius mathematician and University of Chicago professor, Robert dies. Struggling with mental illness, his fiercely brilliant yet emotionally fragile daughter, Catherine, is trying to pick up the pieces of her life. Caught between a newfound connection with one of Robert’s former students and the reappearance of her sister, Claire, Catherine’s world becomes increasingly unstable.
As she struggles to find herself amid her father’s world of hidden complexities and tantalizing secrets, she is forced to face the possibility of inheriting both her father’s creative genius and his terrifying mental illness.
Proof is about family relationships and responsibilities, about love, guilt, vulnerability, trust, death and loss. It deals with the big issues but it keeps them on a human scale and maintains a sense of humour in the process.
For tickets, contact the box office at 091 563600 or AnTaibhdhearc.com.
