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85:, the Isle of Man's greatest annual cultural award for contributions to Manx culture. It was awarded to the Players in recognition of "over 60 years of community cultural contribution in presenting, preserving and promoting Manx dialect theatre." The value of the work of the Players was alluded to in a statement issued by the organisers of the award:
77:
in early
January. The event is now organised by the Michael Heritage Trust and held at the Ebenezer Hall in Kirk Michael. The event is very popular and tickets consistently sell out long in advance of the evening. As supporters of the event, revenue from the ticket sales for these events has gone to
123:
Over the course of their existence, the
Michael Players have come to collect an important and unique collection of Manx dialect theatre. As many as 50 plays have been identified as of significant importance to Manx literature, and many are not known to exist anywhere else. Many of these are in the
69:
in
Michael School following a tour of Bishopscourt. Cannell instituted the annual "Oie'll Verree" entertainment finishing in the Michael Players' performance of a Manx dialect play. The Players were produced for many years by Miss Mary Cannell and Mrs Edna Cooil. In more recent years, the Players
156:
was launched to transcribe these plays and make them freely available on line. An initial release of plays by J. J. Kneen was followed in
December 2016 with a number of plays by Christopher Shimmin. It is hoped that the full collection of plays will eventually be made available.
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the
Michael Heritage Trust since the year 2000, but proceeds previously went to the Celtic Congress. The Michael Players are the only established group performing works from the Manx dialect theatre tradition in the Isle of Man today.
148:"The Michael Players store of Manx dialect play and sketch manuscripts is the most important resource of its kind anywhere in the world and it contains unique copies of plays which would be otherwise entirely lost today."
105:
and many more make up a unique tradition which could easily have been lost if it had not been for successive generations of enthusiasts with a strong sense of community and a desire to share and celebrate Manx
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by 1948, but the
Michael Players made their first full "revived" performance in 1954. This performance was organised by Miss Mary Cannell as an entertainment for the Manx branch of the
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191:
Although the
Michael Players have been performing for over 60 years, there are few records of the plays performed within each year. The known performances are as follows:
49:. They are centrally important to the continued tradition of Manx dialect theatre, both through their performances and in their unique collection of Manx plays.
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70:
have been produced by Winnie
Callister, until her retirement from the group in 2014, followed by Roy Kennaugh, until his death at the end of 2017.
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750:
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The
Michael Players today continue the tradition of giving an annual performance of Manx dialect theatre at an Oie'll Verree event, held on
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144:, P. W. Caine and W. B. Meyrick. The collection of plays has been estimated as being of great importance for Manx literature:
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original manuscript form, or else bear unique annotations by the authors. Writers whose plays are represented include:
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were performing Manx dialect plays or sketches at least as early as the 1930s. A group were performing again after
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551:'Manx Radio Interview, 01 Jun 2016: Manx poetry books & the Michael Players' Collection'
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784:, North American Manx Association blog, 11 January 2013 (accessed 2 January 2017)
729:, North American Manx Association blog, 13 January 2010 (accessed 2 January 2017)
717:, North American Manx Association blog, 8 January 2011 (accessed 17 January 2017)
705:, North American Manx Association blog, 11 January 2013 (accessed 2 January 2017)
693:, North American Manx Association blog, 21 January 2015 (accessed 2 January 2017)
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506:, North American Manx Association blog, 9 January 2014 (accessed 2 January 2017)
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Although it is not known when the
Michael Players were first formed, a group in
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691:'Michael Heritage Trust Provides Another Winner with Oie'll Verree Concert'
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The Michael Heritage Trust Facebook page, organisers of the annual
765:"Michael Players 1987 - Bert Quayle + Ann Corlett + Norman Barron"
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897:
The Michael Players Collection, available on ManxLiterature.com
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IOM Today, Thursday 10 January 2008 (accessed 2 January 2017)
641:, Manx Music website, January 2019 (accessed 11 April 2019)
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504:'Successful Oie’ll Verree Launches Island of Culture 2014'
16:
Manx dialect theatre performance group in the Isle of Man
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An early picture of a performance by The Michael Players
615:"Isle of Man: Oie'll Verree Celebrated in Kirk Michael"
603:, IOM Today, 25 December 2016 (accessed 4 January 2017)
516:'Michael Players guardians of Manx dialect manuscripts'
741:, IOM Today, 08 January 2009 (accessed 2 January 2017)
653:, IOM Today, 29 December 2017 (accessed 20 March 2018)
681:, IOM Today, 8 January 2016 (accessed 2 January 2017)
782:'Oie’ll Verree Audience Charmed by Michael Players'
703:'Oie'll Verree Audience Charmed by Michael Players'
651:'Oie'll Verree: A celebration of old Christmas Eve'
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on www.manxliterature.com (accessed 2 January 2017)
576:, IOM Today, 13 June 2016 (accessed 2 January 2017)
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website, 16 January 2017 (accessed 2 February 2017)
751:'Honoured for their contribution to Manx culture'
639:'Traditional Oie'll Verree Plays to a Full House'
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522:News, 17 January 2017 (accessed 2 February 2017)
917:Cultural organisations based in the Isle of Man
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669:within ManxMusic.com (accessed 2 January 2017)
428:Oral history interview with John Norman Barron
41:are the oldest existing body of performers of
892:by Kathleen Faragher, available on SoundCloud
81:In 2017 the Michael Players were awarded the
8:
679:'Oie’ll Verree celebrations in Kirk Michael'
535:'The Michael Players win the 2017 RBV award'
883:by Lilian and Eva Kneen, available on Vimeo
557:, originally broadcast on 'Shiaght Laa' on
25:Members of The Michael Players receive the
499:
497:
879:The 2014 Michael Players' performance of
601:'Manx playwright's works are now online'
574:'Manx dialect plays are released online'
477:"Roy was a Manxman through and through"
390:
475:Derbyshire, Andrew (3 January 2018).
7:
727:'Oie’ll Verree at Kirk Michael 2010'
613:Caine, Valerie (17 January 2020).
14:
589:'The Michael Players' Collection'
459:Retiring from the Michael Players
152:In June 2016 a project funded by
795:"Old Christmas at Kirk Michael"
739:'Oie'll Verrey at Kirk Michael'
111:The Michael Players' Collection
1:
663:'Kirk Michael Oie'll Verree'
204:In the Doctor's Waiting Room
181:The Michael Players perform
169:The Michael Players perform
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243:A Trip in a Double Decker
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888:The 2016 performance of
820:'Manx "Tay" and Concert'
344:by Lilliam and Eva Kneen
325:by Lillian and Eva Kneen
318:by Lillian and Eva Kneen
256:by Lillian and Eva Kneen
199:by Lillian and Eva Kneen
852:(Untitled news article)
413:'Coming Music Festival'
380:Christopher R. Shimmin
353:Christopher R. Shimmin
336:Christopher R. Shimmin
267:Christopher R. Shimmin
227:Christopher R. Shimmin
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134:Christopher R. Shimmin
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83:Reih Bleeaney Vanannan
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873:Oie'll Verree Concert
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715:'Oie'll Verree 2011'
401:Isle of Man Examiner
197:Mr. Quilliam Decides
316:Mr Quilliam Decides
95:Christopher Shimmin
34:The Michael Players
398:(Untitled picture)
233:A Cat and Dog Life
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912:Theatre companies
856:Isle of Man Times
840:Isle of Man Times
801:. 13 January 1961
446:Isle of Man Times
416:Isle of Man Times
249:by J. E. Q. Cooil
245:by Eva Kneen and
237:Kathleen Faragher
206:by J, E, Q, Cooil
126:Kathleen Faragher
103:Kathleen Faragher
75:Old Christmas Eve
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890:Cat and Dog Life
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367:Up for the Guild
357:1956 (January):
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443:' Kirk Michael’
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836:'Kirk Michael'
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283:Courtin' Times
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154:Culture Vannin
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89:"The plays of
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29:award in 2017.
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561:, 01 Jun 2016
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803:. Retrieved
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622:. Retrieved
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484:. Retrieved
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369:by Eva Kneen
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359:The Raformah
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349:The Club Day
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301:by Eva Kneen
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247:Buggane Bait
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161:Performances
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130:Mona Douglas
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99:Mona Douglas
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59:Kirk Michael
56:
43:Manx dialect
33:
32:
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858:13 Feb 1954
842:13 Jan 1956
805:7 September
624:7 September
619:Transceltic
448:5 June 1954
418:10 Apr 1948
310:J. J. Kneen
299:Jus the Shy
293:J. J. Kneen
289:A Lil Smook
277:J. J. Kneen
215:J. J. Kneen
211:A Lil Smook
138:J. J. Kneen
47:Isle of Man
906:Categories
559:Manx Radio
555:SoundCloud
520:Manx Radio
403:4 Mar 1938
386:References
667:What's On
481:IOM Today
375:The Charm
331:The Charm
262:The Charm
222:The Charm
184:The Charm
106:culture."
486:11 April
363:Juan Noa
142:Juan Noa
537:on the
187:in 2017
173:in 1987
63:the war
53:History
769:flickr
372:1954:
340:1961:
328:1985:
321:1987:
314:1991:
304:1996:
297:2008:
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271:2011:
259:2013:
252:2014:
241:2015:
231:2016:
219:2017:
209:2018:
202:2019:
195:2020:
91:Cushag
464:Vimeo
807:2020
626:2020
488:2019
365:and
665:on
518:on
462:on
378:by
361:by
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334:by
308:by
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225:by
213:by
38:RBV
27:RBV
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
