Mercy Mounthawk Scoops Top Prizes At Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards

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(click to enlarge photo) Pictured are Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk at the Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards. The school took home two awards from the ceremony on Thursday at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

MERCY Mounthawk is celebrating a fantastic two successes in the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Student Theatre Awards on Thursday in Dublin.

In what was an amazing achievement for the students, the school took home the top prize in the Best Set category for its set design in the school’s production ‘Les Misérables’ and then the big one – Best Overall School Play for the school’s production of ‘The Plough and the Stars’.

The result was announced at a special awards ceremony at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on Thursday, May 5 hosted by RTE Two Tube presenters Bláthnaid Treacy and Stephen Byrne.

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This year there was 2,888 entries received from 349 primary and secondary schools so it puts the achievement into perspective.

For the Best Set award, the judges praised the fantastically designed set and comment that there was a sophisticated use of scenic elements and the colour palette used was simply stunning.

In winning the Best Overall School Play, the judges were wowed by the casts convincing and interesting performances and praised the polished production for truly bringing the story to life.

In another Kerry success, Seán Burke O’Donoghue from Holy Family National School in Rathmore, was awarded top honours in the Best Male Performance in a Leading Role category for his spectacular performance in the school’s production of ‘Fight for Freedom’. The judges were blown away by his performance of the character Patrick O’Connor, they praised his command of every scene and said that he was the definition of a leading actor.

Over 1,500 primary and secondary school students representing 64 schools from across Ireland attended the event in Dublin on Thursday. On the day a number of shortlisted schools performed live on stage and students were also treated to a surprise performance by boyband HomeTown.

Now in its third year, the awards were set up by Bord Gáis Energy to recognise and reward participation in school’s drama.