Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Origin 1st Irish Theatre Fest, which ran during the month of January, welcomed all those with a love of the Irish arts scene to attend any of its seven productions and nine special events over its three-week run. Among the featured productions was playwright and producer Turlough McConnell’s Ulster at Play, a dramatic performance about the very notion of dramatic performance itself that seeks to expose the complex and passionate history of theatre in Northern Ireland. The play was featured in the Irish Fest’s Transformation Through Creativity symposium at the Irish American Historical Society in Manhattan.
McConnell grew up 14 miles from Derry in Buncrana, County Donegal, and performed at the Derry Guildhall (pictured above) with his school. Built in 1890 and surviving several bombings, it is the home of Derry and Strabane County District Council and the Feis Foire Colmcille, an event which celebrates Irish culture.
Spotlighting the work of many key Northern Irish dramatists such as Donegal playwright Frank McGuinness, the mind behind celebrated play Observe the Sons of Ulster, Marching Towards the Somme, Ulster at Play works to re-evaluate the role they had – and continue to have – in defining Irishness itself, defying even the most one-dimensional view of Northern Irish conflict with a fond, and uniquely thespian, flair. ♦
Ulster at Play Pays Homage to Northern Irish Theatre
The Guildhall in Derry. I grew up 14 miles from Derry (Buncrana, Co. Donegal) and performed at the Guildhall with my school in the Feis. Still stands after many bomb attacks.
The Guildhall in Derry, Northern Ireland, is a building in which the elected members of Derry and Strabane County District Council meet. It was built in 1890.
It has been home to the Feis Doire Colmcille – an event which celebrates Irish culture. It was also home to the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday 30 January 1972 in Derry.
During The Troubles the Guildhall was the focus of multiple terror attacks. On 23 September 1980 the Field Day Theatre Company presented its first production, the premiere of Brian Friel's Translations, with Stephen Rea and Liam Neeson.
The square in front of the Guildhall regularly plays host to important events. It was the staging area for the historic visit of US President Bill Clinton and Hilary when they visited the city in November 1995. (I was there on that occasion with a group from America including Niall and Patricia.)
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