New play tells of love story based around Carlow sugar factory

THE fate of two young lovers growing up in the shadow of Carlow Sugar Factory is the main storyline to a new play that’s just been written by a local writers’ group.

A host of talented people joined forces at Visual arts centre recently for the read through of the new play The Campaign, which was written by members of the Carlow Writers’ Collective.

The collective is a new group of emerging writers that has been formed over the past six months as part of Carlow Arts Office writer-in-residence programme, led by award-winning author Caroline Busher.

The Campaign was inspired by stories of life in Carlow during sugar beet campaigns at harvest season and tells a fictional love story of two young people growing up during turbulent times.

Actors from Carlow Little Theatre Company brought the writers’ words to life and everyone was whisked back in time to hear the story of star-crossed lovers Stacia and Donnie as they try to make their way in the world.

Speaking on the evening, Caroline Busher said: “It’s an honour being writer-in-residence for Carlow Co Council and I look forward to continuing our creative community collaborations, pushing the boundaries of creative writing.” The residency programme is delivered by Carlow Co Council Arts Office in collaboration with Carlow Library Services. The programme focuses specifically on writers’ professional development and includes talks, lectures, workshops and classes to promote an appreciation of writing, particularly for young people and those that don’t easily access the arts. To find out more, email artsservice@carlowcoco.ie.