Learning how to win

It’s often said you have to lose a final before you win one. The first final can be a learning experience, where you figure out what you do well, where you could improve and have the resilience to come back again bigger and better. And so it proved for Hoodwink Theatre, who won the ACDI/DLI All Ireland One Act Drama Festival in early December.

The group were crowned champions in the confined section in Tubbercurry for their production of Elaine Birkett’s powerful play Wildling, a notable landmark on the group’s meteoric ascent.

Hoodwink Theatre was set up in 2023 by the Belturbet woman along with Vanessa Flood Galligan and Phil Gilbride with the intention of promoting new writing and new work by artists based in County Cavan. They enjoyed early success by reaching the All Ireland finals in ‘Blayney that first year with Elaine’s play ‘Blood Ties’ set on a plantation estate in America’s deep south.

“There were lots of things I learned from that experience in terms of how you prepare for drama festivals, and also begin to think about all of the different production elements. So it’s not only a script - you need to bring it to life with actors, with set design, with technical lighting - a lot of different pieces go in to it. All of that became a learning opportunity.”

Taking a break in 2024 they redoubled their efforts with Elaine’s new script, ‘Wildling’ which she hoped would “land with audiences”. With Phil Gilbride in the director’s chair they undertook a six month search for the cast and landed on “two fantastic actors” Elizabeth Doonan as Fiadh Connolly and Sharon O’Neill as Maggie Glackin.

“We realised they had great chemistry, they would work really well together,” recalls Elaine.

Male roles were played by Oisín Hourican and Padraig Reilly and the cast was complete with Elaine playing a very minor role.

Jeff Keogh was the creative mastermind behind the set design.

“You need to design your set in a really clever way because you have to make a big impact on stage but then you also need to transport it around the country, while you compete in five circuit festivals,” explains Elaine of the challenge, and for which Jeff memorably delivered a “wow factor”.

Meanwhile Seamus Farrell and Mark McDermott were recruited as lighting and sound technicians.

“That’s also a wow factor we wanted to create in terms of atmosphere, mood changes. Lighting supports the story that’s being told throughout the play so all of those elements together are ultimately what brought our production to an award-winning All-Ireland status.”

It’s often said you have to lose a final before you win one. The first final can be a learning experience, where you figure out what you do well, where you could improve and have the resilience to come back again bigger and better. And so it proved for Hoodwink Theatre, who won the ACDI/DLI All Ireland One Act Drama Festival in early December.

The group were crowned champions in the confined section in Tubbercurry for their production of Elaine Birkett’s powerful play Wildling, a notable landmark on the group’s meteoric ascent.

Hoodwink Theatre was set up in 2023 by the Belturbet woman along with Vanessa Flood Galligan and Phil Gilbride with the intention of promoting new writing and new work by artists based in County Cavan. They enjoyed early success by reaching the All Ireland finals in ‘Blayney that first year with Elaine’s play ‘Blood Ties’ set on a plantation estate in America’s deep south.

“There were lots of things I learned from that experience in terms of how you prepare for drama festivals, and also begin to think about all of the different production elements. So it’s not only a script - you need to bring it to life with actors, with set design, with technical lighting - a lot of different pieces go in to it. All of that became a learning opportunity.”

Taking a break in 2024 they redoubled their efforts with Elaine’s new script, ‘Wildling’ which she hoped would “land with audiences”. With Phil Gilbride in the director’s chair they undertook a six month search for the cast and landed on “two fantastic actors” Elizabeth Doonan as Fiadh Connolly and Sharon O’Neill as Maggie Glackin.

“We realised they had great chemistry, they would work really well together,” recalls Elaine.

Male roles were played by Oisín Hourican and Padraig Reilly and the cast was complete with Elaine playing a very minor role.

Jeff Keogh was the creative mastermind behind the set design.

“You need to design your set in a really clever way because you have to make a big impact on stage but then you also need to transport it around the country, while you compete in five circuit festivals,” explains Elaine of the challenge, and for which Jeff memorably delivered a “wow factor”.

Meanwhile Seamus Farrell and Mark McDermott were recruited as lighting and sound technicians.

“That’s also a wow factor we wanted to create in terms of atmosphere, mood changes. Lighting supports the story that’s being told throughout the play so all of those elements together are ultimately what brought our production to an award-winning All-Ireland status.”