As the Sligo Drama Circle celebrates its 50th anniversary next week, all talk will once again revert back to the group’s first performance in 1956. Directed by Walter McDonagh, the cast of “Thy Dear Father” tread the boards half a century ago in the Town Hall and according to Walter was the talk of the […]
It was 1970. The sixties had ended, and to listen to modern commentators, a dull decade was about to begin. But not in the Sligo theatre world. To us in the Drama Circle, the best was yet to come. Founded in 1956, the Circle had sought for years to win the blue ribband of non-paid […]
It took a bit of gentle arm-twisting, maybe even the persuasive “go on, go on, go on” tactic for which Mrs. Doyle has become so famous, but ultimately it was the quality of the script and the part which lured Dee Gallagher from her self-imposed theatrical exile. Having turned down numerous offers of parts over […]
In Sligo the name Mc Dermottroe is synonymous with superb acting. Eddie Mc Dermottroe Senior delighted and enthralled audiences for years with his many brilliant performances during his time with the Sligo Drama Circle. Maria, his daughter followed in her father’s footsteps. First as an amateur and later as a polished professional. Young Conor is […]
Hard to imagine a tie without television and very little radio. No pub culture, no nightclubs, no custom-built theatre. What did folk do for a bit of diversion? Apparently, very many of them queued for seats in the makeshift theatres of the Town Hall or Gillooly Hall whenever there was a play on offer, which […]
Pádraig Foran, Drama Circle member and former member of the Sligo Unknown Players, details some of the history of “The Unknowns”, as they were more commonly called. Sligo Unknown Players were the forerunner of the Sligo Drama Circle and they experienced a lot of success in the local amateur drama movement. This article also recalls […]
When stage people in Sligo presented “The Colleen Bawn” shortly before Christmas as a tribute to Charlie and Maggie Hughes it gives one the opportunity of reminiscing on the Sligo Unknown Players to which the Hughes partnership were so much attached over a period of many years. It was just after Christmas in 1935 that […]
Mrs. Eileen Lambert, Hon. Secretary, reporting to the final meeting of the committee which was established in Sligo to aid the Sligo United Players in staging “The Colleen Bawn” to mark the retirement from the amateur stage of Charlie and Margaret Hughes, founder members of the Sligo Unknown Players, had this to say: “it gives […]
The production this week of The Colleen Bawn as a tribute to Margaret and Charlie Hughes in the Gillooly Hall, Sligo, was certainly well timed. Sligo theatre-goers, starved of their favourite pastime for so long, were eager to see another Sligo production and the fact that it was designed as a compliment to two people […]
For those people who remember with affection the old days of the theatre and for the younger people who would like to see for themselves what those days were like, there will be a very important engagement in the Gillooly Hall, Sligo, on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next. Those are the days fixed for […]
Over the years Sligo Drama Circle has used many places for the rehearsal of plays and making of sets and costumes. Sligo Columban Club, Sligo Social Services, Scoil Ursula. For
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Steel Magnolias Supporting Diabetes Ireland
Join us in the Hawk’s Well Theatre on Wednesday November 4th before the curtain rises on Steel Magnolias for Magnolias in Pink, a very special Opening Night Reception celebrating friendship, laughter and community. With all proceeds on the night going to Diabetes Ireland, it’s the perfect way to kick off an unforgettable evening of theatre […]
Treading the Boards – Book Launch
November 18th marks the 70th anniversary of the very first Sligo Drama Circle production, when we appeared on the stage of the Town Hall for our very first performance, “Thy Dear Father” by Gerard Healy. Now, Sligo Drama Circle is marking the occasion of our 70th Anniversary with the launch of a new book detailing […]
As part of the Launch Day event for Vintage Glamour Day, a fund-raising collaboration between North-West Hospice and Sligo Races, our resident costumier, Máire Hynes, was challenged to create a vintage costume from old curtains! Máire selected a pair of curtains donated to the North-West Hospice shop and reimagined, recycled and reused them to create […]
Sligo Drama Circle is an amateur drama group formed in 1956 to provide live theatre to the Sligo public. With the disappearance of the professional theatre companies from the Irish scene at the time, and the reluctance of the National Theatre to undertake provincial tours, the amateur movement across the
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“Treading the Boards – 70 Years of Sligo Drama Circle” will be launched at a special event in Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo on November 18th, the actual date of our 70th Anniversary. The book is a limited edition and is the culmination of three years of research. It is a large book with 94 chapters […]
Steel Magnolias Supporting Diabetes Ireland
Join us in the Hawk’s Well Theatre on Wednesday November 4th before the curtain rises on Steel Magnolias for Magnolias in Pink, a very special Opening Night Reception celebrating friendship, laughter and community. With all proceeds on the night going to Diabetes Ireland, it’s the perfect way to kick off an unforgettable evening of theatre […]
Sligo Drama Circle will mark its 70th Anniversary with “Stage Memories”, an exhibition of posters, programmes, photographs, costumes, props and memorabilia for Culture Night 2026. Join us in our Market Yard premises (beside Montmartre restaurant F91 EVK4) on Culture Night, Friday September 18th any time between 7-9pm and take a nostalgic look through our archives charting our dramatic journey […]