Actors had to get police protection

September 1985

A group of Wexford actors had to seek police protection in Scotland last month when their production in the Edinburgh Festival was described as I.R.A. propaganda

Members of Wexford Theatre Co- Op feared an anti-Irish backlash when a reviewer in a newspaper referred to their production, ‘Orwell’s Boudicca’, as ‘a metaphor for the Northern Ireland conflict in the interest of our old friend, the Provisional I.R.A.’.

The reviewer in ‘ The Scotsman’, Owen Dudley Edwards, hit out at ‘ the evil message’ in the play and said the Irish Arts Council was to be congratulated for refusing a grant to the Co- Op.

But Co- Op founder member Michael Way said he was ‘absolutely horrified’ at the description of the play, which had a most definite anti-violence theme.

‘ The review was so far away from the play. It was one hundred per cent wrong,’ he said. Mr Way added that there was disbelief amongst the cast when they read it.

He immediately went to the Edinburgh Police because he feared what an I.R.A. smear campaign might mean for the company in Britain. The police took the danger seriously and provided what cover they could, Mr Way said.

He also went to the City Council – one of the main funders of the festival - to protest at what had happened. And he had a letter published in ‘ The Scotsman’, pointing out the true nature of the play – that it deals with passive resistance to an ultra right wing government in Britain, with close paralells to George Orwell’s famous novel, ‘1984’.

On their return to Wexford, the Co- Op also contacted their solicitors, because they wanted to further impress on Mr Dudley Edwards the harm he has caused to them.