A variety of Irish language dialects could be heard on the streets of Mullingar for the past week, with the arrival of the Féile Náisiúnta Drámaíochta to the town.
Forty four plays from the four provinces took to the stage of Mullingar Arts Centre in what was the eleventh year for the competition to take place in the town.
This year, there were up to 14 newly written plays, with a big increase in musicals. Included in the mix of colourful performances were two versions of The Lion King and Oliver Twist along with entertaining performances of Beauty & The Beast, Les Miserables, The Jungle Book, Annie and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
On the opening day of the competition, the National President of An Cumann, Seán MacAodha spoke about the enjoyment the young participants get from the competition, as well as the commitment given by the children and their teachers.
“The amazing thing is the punctuality of the schools year after year. We’ve schools from Munster and north Donegal arriving at 10am having left at 6.30am in the morning. They travel this far for a play that takes twenty minutes and travel home. It shows the huge commitment of everyone involved.”
Locally, Gaelscoil and Mhuilinn put on an entertaining performance of ‘Na Trí Mhuicín” while Scoil na Naomh Uile (All Saints’ NS) put on colourful performances of ‘An Jungle Mór’, with a numbers of locals attending to support the competition. “We’ve great support from local schools who come along and make up audience numbers which is always a great help,” says Seán.
