Laois Macra group take second spot in national competition

It has been an exciting month for the Mountmellick Macra group taking home second place in a national competition and also staging their annual pantomime. 

Fourteen members of the club travelled to Ovens in County Cork to sing, dance and entertain judges and the audience alike in the All Ireland Capers final.

Capers is a twenty minute variety show and it is jam packed with short, snappy acts that keep the audience engaged until the curtain closes.

The group didn’t disappoint and scooped second place with Banteer, County Cork placing first overall and Kilmeen Macra taking third spot. 

“There are so many things to factor in" said the team's producer A.C. Reynolds, "set up time 

and emptying the stage after the performance are all part of the competition and the presiding officer is literally standing side stage with a stopwatch monitoring everything. 

“Any breach of the time rules can incur a penalty and doc marks from the judges. So thankfully our time keeping was excellent on the night".

On the night the club also picked up two of the four individual awards, Andrew Dunne for best male and A.C. Reynolds for best producer. 

The group had been in rehearsals for the show, titled Therapy Vibes, since October 2023 and they are already planning next year's show. 

"Having won the competition in 2022 and going on the Macra prize winners group trip to Edinburgh was a real highlight for our club. Capers is something that if you do once, you get hooked on, the team spirit and fun involved builds with every trip away and every time we step onto the stage. We are already looking forward to 2025".

The team were as follows: Colette Cashin; Aaron Kane; Amy Strong; Andrew Dunne; Aoife Mallon; Aoife Oxley; Alanah Conroy; Nathan Flanagan; Conan Kirwan; Kellie Fox; Jade Feeney; Michéal Kilheeney; Joanne Teehan and Sophie Ahern.

The choreographer was Louise Ahern and Sound/lighting Maryse Lennon. Backstage was Larry Ryan, Chris Joyce and Kevin Scott.