Theatres of the Troubles

Bill McDonnell

Description

The first book to document grass roots popular theatres which developed from within the working class Republican and Loyalist communities of Belfast and Derry during the latest phase of the four hundred year conflict between Ireland and Britain. Theatres of the Troubles explores the history of one of the most important periods of political theatre activity in post-war Europe.


This significant study seeks to convey how the moment to moment unfolding of the conflict determined organisation, ‘texts’, performance contexts and reception, and how the theatres operated within Republican and Loyalist communities. All chapters draw upon previously unpublished primary sources, including texts, interviews and letters, shared workshops and witnessed performance.


In examining not only how these theatres related to each other, but also their relationship to European traditions of radical theatre and to the liberation models which were developing in neo- and post-colonial contexts in the South, Theatres of the Troubles represents a key addition to our understanding of the critical relationship between historical conditions and the development of radical theatre forms.

Acknowledgements


Chronology of Key Events


Glossary of Terms


1. Introduction


2. The Historical Context


3. 'Gentle Fury': Father Des and the People's Theatre


4. 'At the Heart of the Struggle': the plays of Belfast Community Theatre


5. 'From Pedagogy of the Oppressed to Theatre of the Oppressed': the H Block Theatres


6. Derry Frontline: a template for liberation


7. Staging the Peace (1) Dubbeljoint at Amharclann na Carraige


8. Staging the Peace (2) the plays of Laurence McKeown and Brian Campbell


9. 'Not a Profession but a Movement': politics, theatre and Republicanism


10. 'Only Catholics Combine': Loyalism and theatre


11. Last Words


Bibliography

Sujets

• Catholicisme
• Belfast
• Derry
• Performance
• History
• General
• Stephen Ireland
• Republican
• 1840s
• Ireland
• General officer
• Loyalist
• Irish theatre
• Post-war
• Theatre
• History of Ireland
• Años 1840
• Histoire
• Theater
• Social History

Informations

• Publié par: University of Exeter Press
• Date de parution: 02 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780859899482
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

B I L L M C D O N N E L L

Theatres of the Troubles

Theatres of the Troubles is the first book to document the grass roots popular theatres which deVeloped from within the working- class Republican and LoYalist communities of Belfast and DerrY during the latest phase of the four hundred Year conflict between Ireland and Britain.

Bill McDonnellthe historY of one of the most important explores periods of political theatre actiVitY in post-war Europe. In this significant studY, he seeks to show how these theatres within the Republican and LoYalist communities related, first to each other, and then to European traditions of radical theatre and to the liberation models deVeloping in neo and post colonial contexts in the South.

‘[Theatres of the Troubles] should proVe accessible to general readers interested in Northern Ireland, and will be especiallY Valuable to students and scholars of Irish theatre, political theatre and communitY and applied theatre. The detailed case studies are framed bY wider philosophical and theoretical discussion which should be of broad appeal. I belieVe that as well as expanding enormouslY our understanding of the cultural dimension of the Northern Ireland Troubles, it also serVes as a model for how experience as a practitioner and direct witness can enrich and Validate academic discourse.’ David Grant, Head of Drama Studies, Queen’s University Belfast

Bill McDonnellis Senior Lecturer in Theatre at the UniVersitY of Sheffield. He has worked both as an actor and writer and was founder and co- director of Theatreworks, Sheffield. He is co-author ofSocial Impact in UK TheatreDominic Shellard, Arts Council England, 2006). (with

Exeter Performance Studies

Series editors: Peter Thomson, Professor of Drama at the UniVersitY of Exeter; Graham LeY, Professor of Drama and TheorY at the UniVersitY of Exeter; SteVe Nicholson, Reader in Twentieth-CenturY Drama at the UniVersitY of Sheffield.

From Mimesis to Interculturalism: Readings of Theatrical Theory Before and After ‘Modernism’ Graham LeY (1999)

British Theatre and the Red Peril: The Portrayal of Communism, 1917–1945 SteVe Nicholson (1999)

On Actors and Acting Peter Thomson (2000)

GrandGuignol: The French Theatre of Horror Richard J. Hand and Michael Wilson (2002)

The Censorship of British Drama, 1900–1968: Volume One, 1900–1932 SteVe Nicholson (2003)

The Censorship of British Drama, 1900–1968: Volume Two, 1933–1952 SteVe Nicholson (2005)

Freedom’s Pioneer: John McGrath’s Work in Theatre, Film and Television edited bY DaVid BradbY and Susanna Capon (2005)

John McGrath: Plays for England selected and introduced bY Nadine Holdsworth (2005)

Theatre Workshop: Joan Littlewood and the Making of Modern British Theatre Robert Leach (2006)

Making Theatre in Northern Ireland: Through and Beyond the Troubles Tom Maguire (2006)

“In Comes I”: Performance, Memory and Landscape Mike Pearson (2006)

London’s Grand Guignol and the Theatre of Horror Richard J. Hand and Michael Wilson (2007)

Theatres of the Troubles Theatre, Resistance and Liberation in Ireland

Bill McDonnell

First published in 2008 bY UniVersitY of Exeter Press Reed Hall, Streatham DriVe Exeter EX4 4QR UK www.exeterpress.co.uk

© 2008 Bill McDonnell

The right of Bill McDonnell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted bY him in accordance with the CopYright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is aVailable from the British LibrarY.

Paperback ISBN 978 0 85989 794 5 Hardback ISBN 978 0 85989 793 8

TYpeset in Sabon, 10 on 12 bY Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster Printed in Great Britain bY T J International, Padstow

Dedicated to my parents, Agnes and Bill McDonnell, whose

lives are part of the long history of the Irish diaspora

Contents

List of illustrations Acknowledgements Chronology of key events Glossary of terms and acronyms

PART ONE: CONTEXTS

The Research Context The Historical Context

ix xi xiii xV

3 12

PART TWO: CASEBOOKS (1) COMMUNITy THEATRES OF THE TROUBLES

‘Gentle FurY’: Father Des and the People’s Theatre ‘At the Heart of the Struggle’: The plaYs of Belfast CommunitY Theatre ‘The UniVersitY of Freedom’: Theatre in the H-Blocks DerrY Frontline – and the template for liberation ‘OnlY Catholics Combine’: LoYalism and theatre

PART THREE: CASEBOOKS (2) STAGING THE PEACE

The ‘Long Peace’ DubbelJoint at Amharclann na Carraige The plaYs of Laurence McKeown and Brian Campbell

25

57 94 117 143

165 169 184

Viii

THEATRES OF THE TROUBLES

PART FOUR: ‘NOT A PROFESSION BUT A MOvEMENT’

The Politics of Process: InsurgencY, theatre and communitY

Notes to the Chapters

Select BibliographY

Index

213

223

243

250

Illustrations

 CoVer illustration taken from the H Block production ofThe Crime of Castlereagh, directed bY Tom Magill

1 Des Wilson at a performance of Belfast People’s Theatre sketches, ConwaY Mill, Belfast, 1999. Photographer, Liz Curtis 36 2The Ecumenical Tea Party, bY Des Wilson, Belfast People’s Theatre, ConwaY Mill, Belfast, 1999. Photographer, Liz Curtis 45 3FocailinDes Wilson, Belfast People’s Theatre and Belfast bY CommunitY Theatre, ConwaY Mill, Belfast, 1986. Photograph courtesY of Springhill House 53  4Oh Gilbert, bY Jim McGlade, Belfast CommunitY Theatre, ConwaY Mill, Belfast, 1984. Photograph courtesY of Springhill House 58  5Sign on the Dotted Line, bY Belfast CommunitY Theatre, MonteneY CommunitY Centre, Sheffield, England, 1987. Photograph courtesY of Springhill House 73  6Sign on the Dotted Line, bY Belfast CommunitY Theatre, MonteneY CommunitY Centre, Sheffield, England, 1987. Photograph courtesY of Springhill House 80  7 Joe Reid in Father Des Wilson’sThe Soldier’s Synge, Belfast People’s Theatre, ConwaY Mill, Belfast, 1999. Photographer, Liz Curtis 91  8 Laurence McKeown next to hunger strike commemoratiVe gable end, Belfast. Photographer, Oístín McBride 98  9 Brian Campbell and Pam Brighton with members of the DubbelJoint theatre companY, Belfast. Photographer, Mal McCann forAn Phoblacht/Republican News 105  10Somme Day Mourning bY Brian ErVine, Shankill CommunitY Theatre, Belfast, 1994. Photograph courtesY of Tom Magill 158