Small City Becomes Huge...
The Playhouse & Dear Conjunction Theatre Company present
The Clearing
By Helen Edmundson When: November 2013 Where: The Playhouse ‘The Clearing’ is a powerful drama of love, passion, treachery, and tragedy set in 17th Century Ireland. Maddy O’Hart and Robert Preston have fallen in love, married and just had their first child. But it is a time of religious and political turmoil, and she is Irish, he is English. As Cromwell and Parliament instigate a policy of ethnic cleansing known as ‘to Hell or Connaught,’ Maddy and Robert find their world turned upside down. Political pressures and their own consciences bring about an inevitable choice; do they bow to the sectarian pressures expected of them by their communities, or do they follow their hearts…? “Edmundson’s writing is passionate, poetic, muscular. She is doing for 17th century Anglo-Irish history what Arthur Miller did for 17th Century New England history in The Crucible’… it will have you on the edge of your seats.” Sunday Times
Three Monologues By Jennifer Johnston When: December 2013 Where: The Playhouse ‘Twinkletoes’, ‘Mustn’t Forget High Noon’ and ‘Christine’ are three monologues written by awardwinning Irish author Jennifer Johnston in response to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. In ‘Mustn’t Forget High Noon’ the best friend of a young Protestant man, Billy, has just been shot by the IRA. In ‘Christine’ the wife of Billy mourns his violent death at the hands of the IRA. ‘Twinkletoes’ follows the story of the wife of a top IRA prisoner, who is looked up to by her community. Rarely performed, these monologues are an opportunity to showcase the lesser known dramatic work of one of Ireland’s greatest living writers.
City of Derry One-Act Drama Festival When: 21 – 23 November 2013 Where: The Playhouse The Playhouse is hosting the ‘City of Derry One-Act Drama Festival’. It’s a unique opportunity for local community drama groups to showcase their talent and for local writers to bring new work to the stage.
The Trial of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lundy When: 6 December 2013 Where: Guildhall The story of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lundy endures nearly 325 years after his name was immortalised during one of the most emotive events in the history of Britain and Ireland. The slamming of Ferryquay Gate on 7 December 1688 against King James’ troops by 13 young apprentices loyal to William of Orange was the precursor to the Siege of Derry that lasted 105 days and cost over 10,000 lives. The majority who died were civilians, many of them succumbing to starvation before the walled city was relieved by the breaking of the boom on Lough Foyle on 1 August 1689. Today the Loyal Order of the Apprentice Boys of Derry continues to honour those who were the heroes of the time - and to vilify the treachery of others. Each December a giant effigy of Lundy is spectacularly set ablaze on a gallows in Bishop Street – a caustic reminder that to be called a Lundy is to be branded a traitor. ‘The Trial of Lundy’ is an interactive, theatrical event that examines the myth and allows the public to vote on Lundy’s innocence or guilt. A Besom Production in collaboration with The Maiden City Festival.
www.cityofculture2013.com 75