There was great excitement among members of the society over the weekend as it was announced the our production of "Honk!" had been awarded the Best Technical award in the 2009 AIMS Awards. The awards were presented during the AIMS Awards Weekend which took place over the weekend of the 12-14 June 2009 in the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney.
The society had a very successful year in the Adjudication & Awards Scheme, with the adjudicator nominating "Honk!" for two awards - Best Technical & Best Comedian (Daniel Doherty) - and Yvonne Hanbury being accepted as a nominee for the Unsung Hero award.
The awards ceremony, which was hosted by TV personality, Simon Delaney, took place on Saturday in the INEC, with approximately 1,000 people from all over the country in attendance. Castlerea's "Honk!" was nominated for the Best Technical award in the Sullivan section against Clara's "Hot Mikado" & S.O.N.G., Dundalk's "Jesus Christ Superstar". The announcement of Castlerea as the winners was met with a great excitement by the 28 or so society members that had travelled to Killarney as Kevin Heaney collected the Br. Fitzy trophy on the society's behalf.
The Best Technical award incorporates lighting, sets & sound, and so it is a particularly satisfying award to receive as it recognises the work of so many society members.
Unfortunately, neither Daniel or Yvonne had similar good fortune in their respective categories, but their nominations alone are a source of great pride for everyone in the society.
We would also like to express our congratulations to our neighbouring societies who also took home awards at the weekend, namely St. Mel's Musical Society, Longford, St. Brendan's Choral & Dramatic Society, Loughrea, Ballinrobe Musical Society & Sligo Musical Society.