Newpoint Players
present


Happy Days


by Samuel Beckett




Thursday,
9 March 2023
8.00 p.m.




Important:
The theatre doors will close strictly at 8.00!
Please be seated by 7.50.

(Please note: no food or drink will be allowed in the theatre during any performance, as this is a competition.)



The Play


Happy Days is a play in two acts, written by  Samuel Beckett. Viewed positively by critics, it was named in 
The Independent as one of the 40 best plays of all time.

Winnie, buried to her waist, follows her daily routine and prattles to her husband, Willie, who is largely hidden and taciturn. Her frequent refrain is "Oh this is a happy day." Later, in Act II, she is buried up to her neck, but continues to talk and remember happier days.

Cast

Winnie

Treasa Davey

Willie

Donal O'Hanlon


Crew

Director

Seán Treanor

Assistant Director

Pauline Lynch

Set

Tom Carville
Paddy Walker
Michael McAteer
Damian Heaney
Leo Hayes
Paddy McGennity

Technical Director

Mark Hughes

Lighting

Diarmuid Rankin
Eoin Hannaway

Make-Up

Siobhan Carragher
Frances Morgan
Judith Quinn

Thanks to Sticky Fingers and Sacred Heart School, Newry, to Mary Goss, to Carrickcruppen GAA,
to Eoin McCartan, to Kate O'Hanlon and to Joe Mathers.

The Group

Newpoint Players was formed in 1946 and since then has performed a wide range of plays – from Shakespeare to Shaw – from Synge to Behan – from French Farce to Irish Kitchen Comedy. It is a society which has always transcended boundaries of class, creed and nationality. In its early years there was a great concentration on the classics but in latter times Classics, ancient & modern have predominated. Newpoint Players are at their best when they perform large-scale shows such as the productions of Murder in the Cathedral and Macbeth. Newpoint was particularly honoured to take part in the Abbeyonehundred celebrations in December 2004. They performed an innovative version of ‘The Shadow of the Glen’ in the Abbey Theatre alongside 3 other top amateur drama groups. Last year the group took “Mary K”, written by Sean Treanor, our director to festivals all over the country, to great critical acclaim.
 
From the beginning Newpoint participated in the festival movement north and south and won the All-Ireland Festival in 1958 with Arms and the Man, 1961 with Our Town and 1992 with Marat Sade. In 1991 they won Dundalk International Festival with Brighton Beach Memoirs.
 
During the summer months, Newpoint operates a youth group which functions throughout the year and has provided the society with a constant supply of new blood many of whom come back to contribute as adults.