Drama Festival draws to a close

The RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival is drawing to a close with the final group, Silken Thomas Players, taking to the stage in the Dean Crowe Theatre tonight with their performance of ‘Mercury Fur’.
The controversial play is described as a cross between Trainspotting and Clockwork Orange. The play finally got its stage premiere in 2005 and has prompted controversy ever since. Set in a post-apocalyptic version of London’s East End where terror gangs, violence and drugs are the order of the day, Mercury Fur conjures up imagery that includes at one point the murder of a teenager with a meat hook.
Reviewed by Daily Telegraph journalist Charles Spencer as “degrading”, Mercury Fur came to Ireland for the first time earlier this year courtesy of the Kildare group before qaulifying for the All-Ireland finals in Athlone.
While the play is ‘gut-wrenchingly graphic’, at the heart of the story is the relationship between two brothers doing what they can to survive.  
This is the 61st festival and the prizegiving takes place in the Radisson Hotel on Saturday. Audiences have been treated to great drama on the stage and visitors and locals alike have been enjoying the Fringe Festival since last week.
A total of nine groups made it to the final, with the renowned Silken Thomas Players bringing the festival to an end tonight. The other performances since last Thursday were ‘The Boys Next Door’ by Estuary Players; ‘All My Sons’ by Thurles Drama Group, ‘The Playboy of the Western World’ by Kilmeen Drama Group; ‘Moonlight and Magnolias’ by Bangro Drama Club; ‘By the Bog of Cats’ by Corofin Dramatic Society; ‘The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia’ by Prosperous Dramatic Society; ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ by Ballyduff Drama Group and ‘Out of Order’ by Bridge Drama Group.