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Irish Independent

Ballycogley Drama Group set to perform extra shows ahead of All Ireland finals in Athlone

Today at 22:00 What a year for Ballycogley players as their 50th anniversary celebrations are rocketed to a fantastic start with the group having qualified for the RTE All Ireland Open Finals in Athlone. At last week's draw for performance slots team Ballycogley were drawn to perform their much loved play 'Lend Me A Tenor' on opening night of the festival. Ahead of this the group, having already sold out the O' Reilly Theatre at the National Opera House, have released their final pre All Ireland performance dates in Gorey Little Theatre on Thursday May 1 and in the Jerme Hynes Theatre at the National Opera House on Monday and Tuesday May 5 and 6. Lend Me a Tenor by Ken Ludwig is a fast-paced madcap comedy set in 1934 Cleveland. The plot revolves around a world-famous Italian opera singer, Tito Merelli who is scheduled to perform in a production of Pagliacci. When their star tenor unexpectedly goes missing, a timid assistant in the company, Max is thrust into the spotlight as his unlikely replacement after he is coerced into impersonating Tito to save the show. What follows is a whirlwind of mistaken identities, romantic misunderstandings, and hilarious chaos behind the scenes. Full of fast-paced action and over-the-top characters, the play is a delightful farce that keeps audiences laughing from start to finish. To qualify for the All-Ireland Finals the group have contested preliminary qualifying festivals all over the country and having travelled to Kilmuckridge, Castleblayney, West Clare, West Waterford, South Leinster New Ross, Shercock and Wexford drama festivals the group secured maximum marks seeing them qualify alongside eight other groups from around Ireland, including two others from Co. Wexford. The play, directed by Pat Whelan, stars Sean Carthy, Catherine Stafford, Edward Hayden, Chris Maddock, Trish Boyce, Catherine Murphy, Fr. Pat Mernagh, Siobhan Murphy and is stage managed by Celine Tracey. Nick Hayes, Cian Cassidy, and Eddie Milbourne look after the lighting for the production with the sound scape in the capable hands of Laura Hayes and Nick Whelan. Costumes, hair and set design are all curated by Catherine Stafford. Many other stalwart group members are ably leading front of house, set building and backstage to support the production. Speaking about the production, Sean Carthy, Chairperson of the Ballycogley Players, said: 'It's an immense honour for Ballycogley Players to be heading back to the RTE All Ireland finals for a second consecutive year and is testament to the work invested in this production by our fantastic director Pat Whelan and the very hard working cast and crew. ADVERTISEMENT It's been a labour of love to bring this production to life, and as chairperson I, and the entire committee, are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication shown by the entire group 'The play has been polished, tweaked and is now ready for its final outings in Gorey and Wexford and we would love your support for what is a very special occasion for our group, especially in our 50th year of bringing drama to the community' Tickets for Lend Me A Tenor at Gorey Little Theatre are available now online on Tickets for Lend Me A Tenor at the Jerome Hynes Theatre are available now through the National Opera House box office (053-9122144) and online on