History of Millbank





In the Autumn of 1927, Irish teacher Richard Duke set up a drama class
within the local branch of the Gaelic League. This was followed by a first
production of two short plays by JB MacCarthy - Poachers and Cough Water,
supported by concert items and staged in the old Rush Town Hall.

From these humble and inauspicious beginnings, Rush Dramatic Society
took its first steps. Over the following 75 years it would go from strength to
strength. From the kitchen comedies of the 1930s and 1940s to the pantos
of the 1950s, the Society became increasingly focused on competive drama
in the late 1950s. Throughout the 1960s, the Society competed seriously at
Drama Festival level with many successes. By the 1970s, it had become firmly
established on the Festival scene and found itself in the happy position of having
more requests from festival organisers than it could accomodate.

The 1980s was a golden period for Rush Dramatic Society, qualifying for five
All-Ireland Drama Finals : 1980 - Is the Priest at Home by Joseph Tomelty, 1982,
1983 & 1985 - Hugh Leonard's Da, A Life & The Patrick Pearse Motel, and 1985
- How the Other Half Loves by Alan Ayckbourn. As winners with Da in 1982, the
Society represents the Amateur Drama League at the International
Festival of Drama in Manchester.

In 1986 the Society purchased a property at Chapel Green, Rush and through
Government/Local Authority grant aid, its own resources and a FAS Project, the
Millbank Theatre opened in 1988.