Trinity Holds the ISDA Competition… for the First Time in Ten Years!

“Great news, theatre lovers of Trinity College Dublin! This year, for the first time in 10 years, Trinity has the privilege of hosting in person the annual Irish Society Drama Awards. The festival, coined “ISDA”, is a nearly two-week-long festival and award ceremony that showcases drama productions from universities around Ireland. There are up to six participating colleges, and this year the participants are Trinity, University College Dublin, Maynooth University, University of Galway, and Queen’s University Belfast. The festival is hosted on a rotating basis, and it’s very special that it will take place in Trinity this year! Theatre editor Catherine Furby sat down with Avril Shields, the festival director for ISDA, to chat about the production. Shields explained that each college has their own method for choosing the shows that will be included in the festival, but Players “picks any show from the past year that is eligible to go to ISDA and the DU Players Committee meets and decides on the shows they want to nominate to send to the festival every year”, she said. Last year, the ISDA was held at Queen’s University, and the DU Players showed “Chop!” and “Shades” attended. This year, DU Players selected the shows “First Dates” and “It Never Entered My Mind”. The first is an original show created by Rhian Gregan, a third-year Drama and Film Studies student at TCD. The second show is also an original by Finn Baneham, a third-year Drama and Theatre Studies student. More information about the shows and the schedule of this year’s festival can be found at the ISDA festival Instagram @isdafestival, or the DU Players Instagram page. In the conversation, Shields stressed the importance of the fact that this is a festival. “It’s not really a competition, it’s a really great chance to meet different people from across the country who are also making theatre and sharing the joy of creating that. And that’s one of the nicest things about being on a show that goes to ISDA”, she said. The festival is running from March 23rd to April 3rd. There is pretty much one show every night, at 6 pm. In the first week, the shows are from Trinity, UCD, and Maynooth, and in the second week, Galway and Queen’s shows are going on. Shields reminded us to stay tuned for the events that come with ISDA as well, such as the opening launch and ISDA ball at the end. “Anyone can buy tickets, anyone can come to the shows, and people really should!” Attending would not only support your Trinity peers in Players, but it would be a very cool way to see what the other universities are up to as well. “It’s a great chance to get to see work from other colleges and how other drama societies make theatre”, Shields explained. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about ISDA in the upcoming days during the festival, and make sure to get your tickets!

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