The All Ireland One Act Drama Festival takes place in Rossmore, County Cork.
While Rossmore has been associated with amateur drama for many years, this is the first time for the town to host the All Ireland One Act Festival.
Rossmore has been a centre for amateur drama for more than twenty years.
This year's festival marks the end of the split between the two amateur dramatic organisations, the Amateur Drama Council and the Amateur Drama League. Two festivals will take place for the last time this year.
Festival Director for the Amateur Drama Council Gerard Finn explains how this unfortunate situation of two amateur festivals taking place at the same time has arisen. The two organisations will work together so that this situation will not happen again. He confirms that next year there will be one All Ireland Drama Festival held in Athlone. Gerard Finn is optimistic about the future of amateur drama in the face of the emergence of other type of media.
Drama is for people who like to get out and about and go to see shows and get involved in shows.
The Rossmore Festival has a huge voluntary effort providing support for shows throughout the six days. Drama groups from the east coast were prominent throughout the festival. One such group is the Iona Players from Dublin with a production of 'Ritual for Dolls' by Scottish playwright George MacEwan Green.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 13 December 1982. The reporter is Tom MacSweeney.
