Went to see 'Impact" last night. Excellent. A very important play informing a new audience of the horrendous railway accident. The topic was handled sensitively and acted well. I was in the upper gallery and heard all. Using the guide and tourists at the statue was a very good way to start the play. The scene with children dancing as angels was very poignant. Reading out the names was also an emotional piece of drama and by making it the first list of 30 or so deaths it didn’t take too long. The full list of names at the end with music was again very well done and a tribute to those lives lost. I’m sure lots of relatives must have brought their own stories to you after seeing the play. Well done to Byddi, Malachi and you for taking on the research and writing and producing the play.
***************
Never write reviews but felt strongly to let you all know that I took my 2 daughters to see Impact last night in Armagh. Wow wow wow what a performance of such a tragedy we were all blown away and enjoyed learning so much about it, soo well written and acted out, huge huge credit to you all super well done, we all look forward to seeing you on the stage again!
Relatives of Thomas McGrath, the ill-fated train driver of the Sunday school excursion train, travelled from Dundalk
to see last night's production of IMPACT.
Two of Thomas's great,great nieces felt apprehensive as to how their 'Uncle' would be portrayed. They had just recently found
out their family link to the tradgey but came away from the performance with a sence of pride that he tried to stand up for what he
believed was right against what could be conceived as greed on the part of authority.
Both loved the production and wished ATG all the best for tonight's (Sat) performance.
L to R Tim, Sandra Woods, Byddi, Linda Martin, Margery and Malachi
Dublin based Colm Gavin, coming to Abbey Lane Open Mic 24 th Nov Armagh City as special guest artist....Last of this year- surprises await.https://youtu.be/cwSKkyc_h3A?si=eRI2FMaGBW6r-UUK
Also next Friday night we meet a local personality, writer and world record breaker. Great raffle prizes, surprises and not least all the
talented contributors who have entertained us through 2023 with poetry, song, stories music and craic.
It's Georgian weekend in Armagh also and a touch of Christmas in the air. So dont miss Abbey Lane Armagh Open Mic.
ONLY £5 at door, BYOB, performance slots 5 min's on stage,under lights in front of an appreciative audience. Your road to stardom.
Dispite heavy rain and ghosts running wild on the City streets, our Open Mic had a great turnout to welcome Glen Wilson for his first visit to Abbey Lane.
A Richhill man Glen now resides in Portadown where he rubs shoulders with other fine bards in David Braziel and Anesu Mtowa, both of whom have guested here in recent times.
Other poets on the night were Rachel Toner; John Henderson; and Malachi Kelly. Storytellers: Matthew Toner, Ellen McKenna, Brian Lamb and Kerry Clarke. Musicians and singers: Dennis McCloskey; Aislinn Whyte; Theo Sinton; Peter Kelly; Danny Doran; Frances Lavery and Fergal Donnelly. And then there was Dymphna!
Aislinn Whyte sang 'Gosford's fair Demesne' and got up again to the delight of the audience and sang her rendition of 'Roger the Miller' with the confidence of someone far beyond her young age. We finished off with Danny Doran singing the blues.
Thanks to all who attended, who contributed to the entertainment and those who helped out clearing all away for the youth group in the morning. But especially to our guest poet Glen it was an honour to have you visit.
Next Open Mic is 24th November ( last of this year) We hope to have Dublin singer/sonwriter Colm Gavin as guest. An up and coming talent who has featured on RTE radio 1, recorded albums and played in Europe and America.
Also, if all goes well, a special invite to a local legend, himself a writer of numerous books and a record holder. So keep Friday night 24th Nov free for another great night's entertainment for £5!
Abbey Lane Open Mic are delighted to announce our guest artist for October is Co Armagh poet Glen Wilson.
A native of Portadown, Glen is widely recognized by many as a leading light of the poetry scene, a poet
at the cutting edge of his craft.
Do not miss the chance to hear Glen at Abbey Lane Theatre, Armagh City on 27th October. Doors open 7.45pm.
BYOB, £5 at door; limited seating; slots of 5mins available. All artists welcome.
Glen Wilson is a multi-award winning and widely published Poet from Portadown. He won the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing in 2017, the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Award in 2018 and The Trim Poetry competition in 2019.
He was commissioned by the Irish football Association to write poems for the Northern Ireland Football team, these have appeared on Sky sports. He has recently won the Padraic Fallon Poetry competition and Slipstream Open Poetry competition in 2021 and The Fosseway Writers Open Competiton and These 3 Streams Poetry competition in 2022. His poetry collection An Experience on the Tongue is out now with Doire Press. He is currently working towards his second collection.
Strong run on tickets for these last preformances of our historical re-enactment play IMPACT (Armagh Rail Disaster) on at Market Place Theatre Armagh
17/18th November. Tickets now on sale from the boxoffice.
Scenes from rehearsals.