New Drumboe drama reimagines 100-year-old Civil War tragedy

Drumboe, a brand new drama premieres at the Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey next week.

A brand new in-house professional production, Drumboe reimagines and recalls events leading up to the execution of Charlie Daly, Sean Larkin, Daniel Enright and Timothy O'Sullivan - who would come to be collectively known as The Drumboe Martyrs - in March 1923.

This production is particularly poignant given the fact it is the 100th anniversary of the tragic events in Stranorlar. It has been commemorated by several groups via ceremonies, talks and exhibitions earlier this year. Some of these saw contributions from relatives of those executed on that fateful day.

The play details the interactions of three men - prisoner Charlie Daly, his former comrade and current jailor General Joe Sweeney and a local priest attempting to act as an intermediary between them. What unfolds is a thrilling new original drama casting new light onto a tragic chapter of local history.

This fully professional production is directed by Ballybofey man Charlie Bonner. Charlie (above) is one of Donegal’s most prodigious theatre makers whose CV encompasses practically every theatre around the island of Ireland.
Drumboe also features a stellar cast of Denis Grindel (Fr Stephen McDevitt), Sean Donegan (General Joe Sweeney) and Stefan Dunbar (Charlie Daly).

The production iis especially meaningful for Denis (above), a professional actor returning home for his first Donegal performance in over 15 years. Another Ballybofey native, he grew up literally yards from where the events depicted in the play took place. Denis began acting in the Balor from a very young age and has achieved great success. At the age of 22 he was cast in the lead role of Jimmy Rabbitte in the West End run of Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments. His most recent West End appearance was in The Choir Of Man, the smash-hit musical which he has toured with across the USA and Australia for several years.

The story was written by Letterkenny writer Kieran Kelly.

The production is made possible by funding received from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative and forms a major part of the Donegal Decade of Centenaries Programme.

“It’s a major development for us at The Balor,” acknowledges Balor manager Conor Malone.

“The artistic talent that resides in our county is no secret. Nor is the unfortunate fact that so many of our creative people need to go to Dublin, Belfast, London or even further afield for work, let alone recognition. The importance of being able to bring to the stage a professional work, new work at that, written by, directed by and starring Donegal professionals cannot be overstated.

“This is a great script, an important story and we want to do it justice. Being able to bring in people of the calibre of Charlie, Denis, Sean and Stefan leaves me very excited. It’s going to be a powerful piece.”

Drumboe premieres at The Balor Arts Centre, Ballybofey from Thursday, October 12 to Saturday, October 14 at 8pm nightly. Tickets are €15 available from the Balor Box Office at (074) 9131840 or online at www.balorartscentre.com