In March of 2007, Dungarvan became a sister city of Erie, Pennsylvania in the United States in order to promote an interchange of both business and education.
Dungarvan Dramatic Club was delighted to be involved in promoting these cultural links with Erie as part of the twin-towning initiative. In August 2008, the Erie Playhouse visited Dungarvan, performing at our Townhall Theatre for two nights. Now this spring, a contingency of 18 people from Dungarvan Dramatic club will visit Erie to perform 'Strange are the ways of Pegasus' and 'Faint Voices' for two nights.
"Strange are the ways of Pegasus", devised by Margaret Dennehy, is a multi media presentation which spans the life of Meath poet Francis Ledwidge. This piece provides a backdrop to the second play "Faint Voices" By John Mc Kenna, which dramatically portrays the doomed relationship between Frank Ledwidge and Ellie Vaughey as well as the impact of his death on the battlefields of World War 1 on those left at home. Both plays contain some very poignant moments and both feature extracts from Ledwidge's poetry. The cast and crew will take their performances to the Erie Playhouse Theatre which holds a capacity of 436 not including disabled seating... no pressure then for DDC!!!!
Since 2007, DDC have carried out a relentless campaign to fundraise for the trip to be staged in Erie as well as the support of the County Council, patrons and sponsors of the club. Whilst there has been a huge campaign to get the production to Erie through sponsorship and fundraising, DDC are lucky to have dedicated members, cast and crew who have themselves, contributed to the trip.
Everyone will travel out on Friday April 2nd and hope to perform at the Playhouse on the April 7th and 8th. However, the Club could not take the play to Erie without letting the people of Dungarvan see it first. The shows will be performed on March 24th and 25th 2010.
It's a fantastic opportunity for the Club and for the Town. We look forward to seeing you all in later this spring!
