New drama festival a critical and commercial success as Wexford’s insatiable appetite for theatre proven once more

“The venue was completely full on the first night and about 90 per cent full the second,” he said. “It really couldn’t have gone any better. We had a lot of local ‘drama heads’ in attendance and the feedback we got from them, and from everyone, was great, so you could say it was both a critical and commercial success.”

The five plays, Went A Furze-Smashing, Burning Bridges, The Narrow Bench, Merry Go Round, and Borussia Moenchengladbach, came from around the country with one chosen by judges Andy Doyle and Fintan Kelly as the overall winner. After much deliberation, Went A Furze-Smashing by Diarmuid McGuinness.(directed by Pat Murphy and Julie Fox) was selected by the judges.

“It has an interesting backstory,” said Paul, “it was written by Diarmuid, who’s from Longford, and it came about through some research he was doing into his grandfather who he’d never met. He found out that his grandfather was what you might call an early day travel-blogger, he used to go around the country writing about the folklore of different places. Diarmuid came across a piece his grandfather wrote in 1953 and that became the basis for the play.”

Amigo Productions will now bring Went A Furze-Smashing to venues across Wexford, running it alongside a new production of their own which is, as yet, untitled.

In addition, there are already plans to extend next year’s Page to Stage Festival.

“We’re already hoping to grow and expand the festival, hold it over three nights next year and run eight plays, there seems to be a huge appetite locally for new theatre,” Paul added. “Given the reaction to the festival and the fact a lot of people missed out we’re also considering bringing the five shows back for another run.”