theatre

Forget Turkey – sketches, songs, political satire & belly laughs

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 14, 2013, 8:30 am

| Readers 27

The Lyric Theatre’s Forget Turkey is packed full of sketches, songs, spoof adverts and a narrative thread about a supermarket that’s closing its shutters. Multimedia rich and packed with more laughs a minute than any show I’ve attended in years, Forget Turkey starts strongly with a musical review of the year that covers local and world events. Images are projected onto the gable wall of a house, with lyrics of some of the songs appearing to tempt the audience to …

Pending Vote: Democracy 101 in the Lyric as part of #BelFest

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 22, 2013, 10:15 am

| Readers 59

Over a hundred people filed into the Lyric’s Naughton Studio clutching their digital binary voting handsets: we used our fingers to press the Yes or No buttons. Seated on three sides of the small theatre facing a large screen with a blinking cursor, the audience quickly got used to answering questions as the timer counted down to zero. For a while Roger Bernat’s Pending Vote felt like the true beginnings of the much lauded seldom found new politics in Northern …

Where is the Protestant community today? Discussion in East Belfast on Thursday evening, along with preview of Paisley & Me

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 14, 2012, 4:58 pm

| Readers 127

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 …

London Letter: Arts face tough year in 2011

Catherine Wylie on December 7, 2010, 4:52 pm

| Readers 12

It’s hard to make an economic case for the arts at a time when all departments face cuts and shortages. However, many believe that the survival and continued nurturing of the arts needs to be fought for, as thousands of people are employed in the sector in Northern Ireland and it is such a huge part of the social structure. In recent years, it has become more popular for people to attend the theatre (particularly affordable community theatre) and it …

Black Watch – swearing like troopers

Moochin Photoman on November 1, 2010, 10:34 am

| Readers 33

I was fortunate enough to get a couple of tickets to the National Theatre of Scotlands production of the multi award winning play Black Watch. The play, based on interviews with former and serving soldiers in the regiment during it’s two deployments to Iraq is a masterpiece of theatre and it’s easy to see why it has won so many awards (10+). Clever staging and at times mesmorising and innovative choreography are used to great effect, reinforcing the idea of …

The Boat Factory – launched in East Belfast last night

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on October 6, 2010, 11:00 am

| Readers 96

The Boat Factory, play by Dan Gordon, produced by Happenstance Theatre Company

Dan Gordon’s new play The Boat Factory opened in the heart of East Belfast last night. Part drama, part documentary, it plots out the development of the shipyard in Belfast, as well as charting the social history of the shipyard workers. Produced by Happenstance Theatre Company and directed by Philip Crawford, it’s the story Davy Gordon – played by Dan Gordon and based on his father – growing up and following his brothers into Harland and Wolff as an apprentice. …