This article is from page 21 of the 2014-08-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 21 JPG
A CLARE actress and student of an Ennis-based acting school has scooped a top award in one of the country’s biggest drama competitions.
West Clare woman Anna Moloney has been honoured with a Leinster School of Music and Drama Excellence Award for her outstanding performance in drama.
Approximately 15,000 students across the country take the Leinster School of Music and Drama exam each year and this excellence award accolade is only bestowed on four students in all of Ireland.
Anna, who is from Miltown Malbay, will be presented with her prize at a Gala Concert in Griffith College, Dublin, in October.
Anna is a student of the School of Speech and Drama, Actors and Reactors in Ennis. The school was founded by Clare sisters Aoibhín and Doireann Garrihy last August.
The sisters have had a hugely successful year. Several of their students were award winners at the world famous famous Feile Luimni.
As well as creative drama and feiseanna, the students participated in the Leinster School of Music and Drama exams in April of this year and each one received first class honours.
“We are extremely proud of all of our students. The standard in Clare and indeed our school is very high and in a time when the importance of self confidence is becoming more and more apparent our focus is on developing crucial skills which we hope will benefit our students greatly,” said Aiobhín of the student’s achievements.
Two students of the Actors and Reactors School of Speech and Drama, Ava Rochford and Anna Moloney, were nominated for an excellence award for their outstanding performance in drama. They performed for a panel of judges in Griffith College, Dublin, on July 5.
Aoibhín is currently playing Jane Bennett in Alan Stanford’s production of Jane Austen’s famous ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in the Gate Theatre Dublin.