Dramat Short Play Festival | Eoghan Lyng

Continuing the ever growing tradition of the short play festival, Dramat`s short play festival provided a forum for novice actors/writers/directors the opportunity to put together a twenty minute play. An enjoyable form of night`s entertainment, the play festival had four very different shows on display.

    The first play “Lisa Gheradini”, written and directed by Aoife O` Leary McNeice, was a poignant but hilarious look at an Irish intern falling head over heels with a talking Mona Lisa. Accessible, witty and well written, this piece was arguably the best of the four pieces. Aaron Elbel was very competent as the Irish intern, while Anna Fenn made a very sharp witted Mona Lisa.

  This piece was quickly followed by “Street Work”, which, unfortunately, did not maintain a similar standard. “Street Work” had a clever concept to it; but the show itself could not execute the philosophical themes within the time constraints of the show. Credit to first time director Conor McCarthy, he delivered well with was a terrible script, and his actors certainly delivered ( Ben Auffman Moore was particularly effective in this regard), but this piece seemed indulgent and overlong.

 Eoghan McConville`s preceding script may have been weak, but the follow up performance “Sick and Twisted” (also McConville`s handiwork) was a lot better. The piece lived up to the title and every sick concept from paedophilia to incest and homosexual rape to racial genocide was discussed unashamedly, in a gloriously twisted manner. There was an audible chemistry between Megan Roberts, Nathan Ryan and John Browne, accounting for a great piece of shocking theatre. Undoubtedly, “Sick and Twisted” may have been somewhat disturbing for some audience members, but for those who enjoyed it, it was a sumptuous treat.

  The festival ended with “Adrift”, a narrative reminiscent of humanist writers such as James Joyce. Written and directed by Mairéad O` Sullivan, the play centred around a lost soul homeless on the streets of London. Poignant and aesthetically fulfilling, the play was the visually astute of the four pieces. “Adrift” gave “Lisa Gheradini” a strong run for its money, concluding the festival in a poignant and succulent manner.

 In short, the festival was an intriguing photograph of much of the talent that Dramat has to offer. Next up on their agenda is “Foxfinder”, performing in the Granary Theatre from Wednesday 6th November until Saturday 9th November.