By Paddy Walsh
THE power of the pen and the power of performance come together in a play that will bring audiences through a period of Donegal history that was both divisive and deadly.
‘Drumboe’, which is being staged in the Balor Theatre for three nights from tonight, Thursday, is the work of Letterkenny playwright, Kieran Kelly, and deals with the executions of the Drumboe Martyrs in March 1923 during the Civil War.
“He has crafted a wonderful story which is beautifully paced,” says director, Charlie Bonner – himself a native of Ballybofey – who was asked by Balor manager, Conor Malone, to take on the role.
“Kieran is a wonderful writer with a fantastic temperament and terribly generous with his work.
“He’s very open to anything that helps improve the story telling,” the director maintains.
It’s Friday morning and the cast and production team are still working on elements of the script.
That cast includes Denis Grindel playing the part of Fr. Stephen McDevitt; Stefan Dunbar in the role of Charlie Daly; and Sean Donegan uniforming the part of General Joe Sweeney.
For Denis, whose professional career sees him fluctuating between London and the U.S., there’s a particular relevance to his involvement in the play.
He grew up in the family home on Drumboe Avenue a couple of hundred yards away from the site of the castle and the scene of the executions.
“We used to get people coming by asking us where it had all taken place,” he recalls.
And now here he is taking part in a dramatization of the event having auditioned for his role.
Stefan Dunbar has done, says Charlie, “phenomenal work” while the third performer, Sean Donegan, he describes as a “stalwart” in the acting world.
“The amount of interest has been incredible. People stop me in the street here in the town and ask me about it, fascinated with it.
“We’re telling a story here but you have to keep saying that it’s based on true events. It’s told through the prism of Charlie Daly but the other men who were executed aren’t forgotten”.
Those other men who died at the hands of a Free State firing squad included Sean Larkin, Daniel Enwright, and Timothy O’Sullivan.
“What a lot of people might be expecting is a documentary style of what happened but this play is more about these three men, Fr McDevitt, Charlie Daly and General Joe Sweeney, who are trying to reconcile themselves to the terrible world they are living in right now.”
Charlie adds: “What Kieran has done is very clever. Every scene he has written has just two in each scene – we have people sitting talking and listening to each other and it’s so gripping.
“The scenes have been fashioned by Kieran of what could have happened and the conversations that may have taken place in this cell and in the office in Drumboe Castle.”
And the authenticity is added to in other ways. “We got Michael McNulty who is from Ballybofey and is an officer in the Irish army with the U.N. to get us a Free State uniform. He went above and beyond the call of duty and was so excited to help out. He just knows that this story needs to be told.”
The director also points another credit in the direction of the playwright. “In his infinite generosity Kieran decided that this play should be put on in the Balor. It deserves to be in Ballybofey, he was adamant”.
And in Ballybofey is where it will debut complete with the aid of Production Manager, J.C. Bonar, another local involvement in a truly local drama.
“Cut”, the director didn’t quite say on Friday afternoon but nevertheless the trio of actors retire to Sean Farrah’s hairdressing salon on Navenny Street where Clare Gallagher cuts and grooms them in the style required for the era.
Meanwhile, Charlie Bonner remains hugely impressed with the ever continuing evolution of the Balor Theatre.
“There are three or four things going on here every week. At the moment two other productions are being rehearsed as well as our own. There’s Conor Malone’s own play ‘The Root of All Evil’ and the Christmas pantomime which as opposed to being called ‘Frozen’ is called ‘Foundered’!”
But first ‘Drumboe’ takes to the stage echoing the Civil War strife and the shots that ended young lives one hundred years ago.
There are two matinee performances for local school students on Thursday and Friday.
“They were going to do three but I asked could they condense it into two days. It’s a very tough show and there are just the three of them in it and you need to get your breath back.
“It’s very tough emotionally both for them and for the audiences and very challenging. I can’t speak highly enough about these three men – their dedication is astonishing.”
Some light relief is also evident in the play with the characters of Daly and McDevitt breaking into song in the prison cell at one stage.
The cast and director visited the monument at Drumboe to help them get a picture and perception of that time in Donegal and Irish history.
This play will further that perception for audiences, young and old, over the next few days and nights.
‘Drumboe’ will run from tonight (Thursday) to Saturday, October 14 at 8pm.
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