Controversial play set to close All-Ireland Drama Festival

A hugely-controversial play, which was the subject of a ten-year publishing blackout, is to feature among the nine plays competing in this year’s RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival.

'Mercury Fur’ by the Silken Thomas Players, is described as a cross between Trainspotting and Clockwork Orange.

The play finally got its stage premiere in 2005 and has prompted controversy ever since.

Set in a post-apocalyptic version of London’s East End where terror gangs, violence and drugs are the order of the day, Mercury Fur conjures up imagery that includes at one point the murder of a teenager with a meat hook.

Reviewed by Daily Telegraph journalist Charles Spencer as “degrading”, Mercury Fur came to Ireland for the first time earlier this year courtesy of the Kildare group and has now qualified for the All-Ireland finals in Athlone.

While the play is 'gut-wrenchingly graphic’, at the heart of the story is the relationship between two brothers doing what they can to survive.

Two times champions Estuary Players from Dublin will lead the field when the 61st RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival gets underway at the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone from Thursday, May 2 to Friday, May 10 inclusive.

The nine competitors have earned their place in Athlone having qualified from a series of preliminary festivals held throughout Ireland over the past number of weeks.

Some 29 groups participated in the 'circuit’ and those who have made the cut for the final showdown will present a standard of production which is unequalled outside of the professional stage and indeed, some argue, is well on a par with some of their professional counterparts.

The final awards ceremony will take place on Saturday in the Radisson Hotel at 9pm, admission by ticket only available at the theatre during the festival. At a gathering at the theatre last Sunday at which the running order was decided, new Festival Director, Joe MacCarrick said audiences will be treated to a rich and varied programme of Irish and international theatre.

“The programme has all the ingredients a festival audience could wish for. We have comedy, tragedy, power and passion which is the essence of theatre. These productions will fulfil our desire for entertainment and indeed some will stretch our emotions to their limits, providing plenty of fuel to inform after-performance debate. It will be an utterly captivating experience,” said Joe.

Representing the festival’s main sponsors, RTÉ, Karina Buckley said that the national broadcaster was delighted to be involved with the festival as it fits perfectly with the station’s commitment to the arts and the community. Apart from the usual broadcasts from Athlone during Festival Week, RTÉ hopes to set up an interactive space on site where people can engage with a behind-the-scenes look at programme making.

Full details of all RTÉ’s activities as well as a information on a packed fringe programme will be made known in the coming weeks. Log on to the festival’s official website at www.dramafestival.ie for updates. If previous years are anything to go by, seats will be in huge demand so early booking is advisable to avoid disappointment.

Book online through the festival website or contact the theatre at 090 649 2129.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

* Thursday, May 2, Estuary Players, 'The Boy Next Door' by Tom Griffin

* Friday, May 3, Thurles Drama Group, 'All My Sons' By Arthur Miller

* Saturday, May 4, Kilmeen Drama Group, 'The Playboy of the Western World' by JM Synge

* Sunday, May 5, Bangor Drama Club, 'Moonlight and Magnolias' by Ron Hutchinson

* Monday, May 6, Corofin Dramatic Society, 'By The Bog of Cats' by Marina Carr

* Tuesday, May 7, Prosperous Dramatic Society, 'The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia' by Edward Albee

* Wednesday, May 8, Ballyduff Drama Group, 'Dancing At Lughnasa' by Brien Friel

* Thursday, May 9, Bridge Drama, 'Out of Order' by Ray Cooney

* Friday, May 10, Silken Thomas Players, 'Mercury Fur' by Philip Ridley