New portrait of Drama Festival stalwart unveiled

One of the stalwarts of the All-Ireland Drama Festival in Athlone, PJ Lenihan, has been honoured with a new portrait in the Dean Crowe Theatre & Arts Centre.

Artist Ruth Ryan explained that she was prompted to paint the portrait to remember someone who not only ably represented Athlone as a politician, but who was also as one of the main innovators behind the very first All Ireland Drama Festival.

Gearóid O'Brien's all encompassing book (All Ireland Drama Festival Athlone, 1953 - 2002) details the history of the festival. It was Gearóid's own father Brendan O'Brien who was the first director of the All Ireland Drama Festival (1953), and who, along with PJ Lenihan, was instrumental in putting Athlone forward as the ideal location in which to stage an annual festival such as this.

This is the fifth portrait that Ruth has painted with a theatrical link. Her first was that of Cecil Sheridan, which was hung in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin.

Growing up in Athlone, Ruth was always on the periphery of drama. Her father PG O'Dea, a teacher at the Tech, was also a prolific playwright, who gave voice to the people of rural Ireland through his many comedies, loved throughout the country. His best loved play "Johnnie's Britches" was stated by The Wexford Press to be "the play that has thrilled the entire country!" Culture Night's first event in Athlone (2010) saw a reading of the play at Passionfruit Theatre.

After the reading on Culture Night, Passionfruit brought the full three-act comedy to the stage. This saw a new run of PG's plays, the last three being staged in the USA.

While visiting the Dean Crowe Theatre during that time, Ruth noticed an absence of a portrait of the first director Brendan O'Brien (1953). She thought this amiss, and decided to rectify the omission by painting his portrait and submitting it, along with her father's, to the Dean Crowe Theatre.

PJ Lenihan's portrait came along in a similar way, and it was while reading up on the beginnings of the festival, that Ruth saw another omission, and realised how important PJ Lenihan had been in its formation. All contemporaries, PJ Lenihan, Brendan O'Brien, and playwright PG O'Dea are now displayed in the Dean Crowe Theatre, and what better time to bring these three stalwarts together, as the RTE All Ireland Drama Festival 2024 opens on May 2.