My 6-year-old son was sad last night. He was reading one of his Biff and Chip school books and in the story, the characters called to each other’s house to play. ‘Why does no one call to my house to play?’ he asked? It was a perfectly reasonable question, but very hard to explain in terms a 6-year-old could answer. He is not Billy no mates, he has friends. But these days everything has to be pre-arranged: ‘playdates’ is the …
Playwright Rosemary Jenkinson is turning her satirical pen away from Stormont and is dipping her nib in the dark ink pot of Westminster with her latest rapid response work – Mayday! – a one woman show with Jo Donnelly playing Prime Minister Theresa May.
David Hare’s play “I’m Not Running” about parachuting a popular figure into lead the UK Labour party seems far-fetched but it begs the question of what would need to happen in order to make Northern Irish politics be capable of saying “I’m running” once more?
While grounded in the 1940s, the production ambitiously and successfully combines sound and video content with emotionally-charged live performances to broadcast Double Cross with hi-fi clarity into a 21st century western society conscious of its own poor relationship with truth.
ENTITLED – Entitled to benefits? Dignity? Protection? A new play asks how much difference the welfare reform mitigations make on the ground? How fair are the processes? How do politicians square up their talk about equality and adoration of figures like Winifred Carney with the legacy of welfare reform in Northern Ireland? The MAC, SCORE, Sean Hollywood Arts Centre and The Playhouse.
Worth a mention, given the day that’s in it. One of our bloggers Phil Mac Giolla Bhain has just ended a short run of his play Rebellion in his native Glasgow. Rebellion is themed around the rediscovery of a family history tracing one Glaswegian family back several generations to the 1916 Rising. Former Herald journo, Robbie Dinwoodie was there on Monday, I think… Elements which appealed to these Glasgow audiences, particularly the Rangers-supporting character who is the butt of many …
HALFWAY HOUSE – Half way home for two women disrupted by a blizzard on the Glenshane Pass the pub doubles as a half way point between 1916 and today to look back at the Easter Rising and the Somme in Philip Orr’s new play.
Paisley & Me is a new play by Ron Hutchinson that examines Ulster Protestants through the eyes of Ian Paisley and his family. Dan Gordon will be donning his heavy overcoat and dog collar [Ed – Never!?] to play the preacher and politician, joined on stage by actors Stella McCusker, Lalor Roddy and Des McAleer. The play opens in the Marketplace Theatre in Armagh on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 October, before transferring to The Grand Opera House for a …
