IS IT POSSIBLE TO OUTRUN YOUR PAST?
These five fierce women certainly hope so… but then their darkest secrets start to come out
JakiMcCarrick’splay,Belfast Girls will be presented as part of the Dundalk Táin Arts Centre’s 10th anniversary celebration at the Quintessence Theatre (January 25-27 before touring). The play, set in 1850, is the story of five fierce young women facing their dark pasts as they leave Belfast on a ship bound for Australia. Confined in very restricted conditions on board the ship, they’re making a hectic journey during which secrets are revealed and enemies are made. But no matter where they go they can never escape their past.
This is no pleasure cruise. It’s a post-famine attempt to escape unbearable conditions in Ireland on a journey that could take brutal months at sea in unfriendly company. These girls are not being deported. The idea was to encourage poor girls of good character to find suitable husbands in a sunny climate. But this is not a group of young women out to support each other but one where each must look after herself.
The play, presented with Lyric Theatre Belfast, was developed in the National Theatre, London, premiered in Chicago in 2015, and has had recent productions in Australia, Sweden and New York.
■ Belfast Girls travels to Lyric Belfast, Jan 31-February 3; Droichead Arts Centre Drogheda February 9-10, and to Solstice Centre Navan, February 16-17.
Grandad to the rescue?
Michael J Hartnett’s play Bullied, previously presented in The Viking Clontarf, opened in Bewley’s Cafe Theatre this week and runs until Feb 3.
It’s about a widowed grandfather (Vinnie McCabe) and his 16-yearold granddaughter Anna (Shauna Brennan). Anna is staying with him for a few days. For him, it’s welcome company, for Anna it’s a relief from an unhappy home situation and persistent bullying at her new school with all the modern methods of making life unbearable.
Can grandad find a solution for her? He has his own frustrations with the modern world where communicating with business is often a struggle with automated voices replacing direct contact with humans.
■ Mon/Tuesday €10, Wed/Thurs €12, Fri/Sat €15. A soirée performance Thursday Jan 18, €12, 7pm.
Powerful dance for the ages
Dance Cork Firkin Crane Spring/ Summer Festival is launched this month and runs until June.
The performances open with a copresentation of Dances Like A Bomb, a powerful duet exploding ageing and care, the latest work by Junk Ensemble, performed by the inimitable Mikel Murfi and leading Irish dancer Finola Cronin. It’s at The Everyman February 8 and 9..
Inclusive Dance Cork is a ground-breaking programme for dancers, with or without disabilities from January through May, with funding from Disability Participation and Awareness Fund of Re-Think Ireland and an anonymous donor.
There will also be professional classes and workshops with a masterclass by Junk Ensemble on Friday, February 9, and weekly classes on Thursday mornings.
‘This is a post-famine attempt to escape unbearable conditions in Ireland’