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This site will give you details of our most recent and upcoming productions.

“To begin at the beginning:” the oft-quoted opening line of Dylan Thomas’ Welsh masterpiece, Under Milk Wood.Appropriately, they were also the words of the inaugural drama staged in The Sean Hollywood Arts Centre or, simply, The Arts Centre ’til its own name, when it was a fresh young thing in 1981. Newpoint had the privilege of launching the venue back then and it is the play Newpoint Players Youth Group are performing in homage to the theatre’s lingering demise.The show is co-directed by Youth Group graduate Caolan Byrne, now a professional actor, and Donal O’Hanlon, veteran and long-standing Chair of the troupe. The players are now in their 76th year and the Youth Group, Sean Hollywood’s greatest legacy, are in their 42nd.Alas, plans to stage the event either in or in front of the building were not feasible so the performance will now be in Newry Town Hall on Wed. 31st August and Thur. & Fri. 1st & 2nd September.We are grateful to Newry, Mourne & Down Council for enabling a unique style of presentation by providing a large stage down the floor of the Town Hall with the seating arranged facing the platform on either side in a style stage-geeks will recognise as ‘traverse.’ It is similar to the House of Commons but without the grunts and braying. Hopefully.Newpoint, Old & Youth, are currently the only group in Newry Town staging ‘straight’ drama - as opposed to the Musical genre. The town has certainly been graced by many strong societies concentrating on Musical Theatre, including two fine examples this summer alone. Under Milk Wood is not a ‘Musical’ but it is certainly a play with music and we are delighted to have had the post of Musical Director filled by Mary McManus in a welcome return to the theatre. Her sidekick, as always, is keyboard wizard Elizabeth Freeburn. They have put the youngsters through the dots of the few songs written for the show but in the process have also developed their essential breathing and posture.It is surely a sign of confidence in the future of our youth when they devote seven weeks of their summer to such a task. Four hours a day, five days a week through heatwaves, lashing rain and exam results. The majority of this year’s cast (twenty actors playing forty-six characters) are new to acting and, like all young people who find their tribe, learning difficult skills fast and furiously.What an honour to be amongst the first recipients of the Brian Conlon Foundation grants. Their £3500 assists with the rental of the Town Hall and some of the professional input.This is a fun play, staged in a unique setting by a dedicated cast. Caolan himself takes the role of First Voice (a narrator) as a link from the early days of Sean Hollywood’s Youth Group to the current iteration. Tickets are £10 at the door or can be purchased on Eventbrite. There are direct links on all our social media and newpointplayers.com. Do join us, No-good Boyo, Captain Cat and a host of others in one day in the life of the village of LLareggub. Spell that backwards for a flavour of the wit. TICKETS HERE!!