We're delighted to announce The Blackwater Lightship will be back on the Ballyduff stage for 5 additional performances ahead of our performance at the All Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone!! After travelling the length and breadth of the country and winning 6 festivals along the way, we're back in Ballyduff on Saturday the 3rd, Monday the 5th, Tuesday the 6th and Saturday the 10th at 8pm, as well as a matinee performance on Sunday the 11th of May at 1pm.

Booking lines open Thursday the 24th of April on 087 139 1200 between 2pm and 8pm!!

Cast
Helen : Clodagh Whelan
Lily : Sheila Heneghan
Dora Devereux : Mary Colbert
Declan : John Stack
Larry : Ronan Bennett
Paul : Tony O’Hanlon
Essie : Phil McGrath

Director
Ger Canning

Play Synopsis
“When I was young, lying in bed, I used to believe that Tuskar was a man and the Blackwater Lightship was a woman and they were both sending signals to each other and to other lighthouses, like mating calls.”

It’s 90s Ireland and HIV/AIDS is still a terminal diagnosis. A sister, a mother and a grandmother, along with two friends, have come together to tend to Declan, who has the disease. Can this makeshift family unit face up to the illness and each other?

Crew
Stage Manager
Noel Hayes

Set
Donie O’Sullivan
Joe Watkins

Crew
Adrian Finn
John Conway
Brendan Hurley
Hugh Collins
Patrick Feeney
Paddy Joe Sheehan
Tony Leddy

Lighting
Anthony Quinn
Billy Casey

Sound
Tom Leddy

Costumes
Mary Clare Condon
Fiona Coughlan

PR
Sandra Nyhan

Production Assistance
Cillian Cotter

Group Synopsis
Ballyduff Drama Group has been performing on the Three-Act Circuit for over forty years. In that time they have won the RTE All Ireland Finals in Athlone on three occasions, in 2004, 2022 & 2024. Their repertoire is extensive and has included work across the whole spectrum of dramatic endeavour. Productions like All-Ireland second-placed “The Welkin” (2023), “Of Mice and Men” (2010) and “Caught in the Net” (2008) and the All- Ireland winning “On Raftery’s Hill” (2004), “Rabbit Hole” (2022) and “The Ferryman” (2024) represent just some of its array of achievements. Our group promotes the ethos that is Ballyduff Drama Group – one of inclusion, determination, cooperation and pride.

Kindly supported by Blackwater Distillery