Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE EDGE OF REASON
REMINDER TO APPLY FOR VC
We rarely concern ourselves with the world of theatre, dahling, but Edgefest at Belfast’s MAC isn’t your normal theatre. The festival, which kicked off last night has, as the name might suggest, a distinctly edgy feel to it – and it tackles issues others would shy away from like men’s mental health and suicide.
It’s an important theme and one which has touched the Northern Ireland arts community pretty deeply in the last couple of years. Theatre companies Prime Cut and Tinderbox are tackling it head on.
So to the plays then, and the reason that Edgefest so pricked our curiosity. East Belfast Boy is the story of a young DJ and father “at a precipice in his life”.
First presented through a collaborative process involving young men from the Beersbridge Road and Newtownards
Road areas, this Prime Cut Production version sees it star just one actor – Ryan Mcparland. It’s a thrilling turn, “more street poetry than monologue”, but lending it even more urban credentials is that it’s soundtracked with an original score by Northern Ireland producer and DJ Phil Kieran.
Having come up through Belfast’s underground house and techno scene in the 90s, the subject matter is close to his heart –even though it was “the hardest thing I’ve ever worked on”.
He explained: “It was hard in that I have been working 14-hour days since December with a short break for
Christmas.
“It’s all very familiar territory for me and we have all met the character Davy. I wanted to make the music very real and not use stereotypes of music we think guys growing up in certain areas listen to. People suffer from anxiety or depression no matter what their background – and sometimes talent gets hidden away when people make judgments or when you get told growing up that only rich people get opportunities.”
East Belfast Boy debuts at the MAC tonight. Also in Prime Cuts’ stable is Every Day I Wake Up Hopeful by John Patrick Higgins and starring Charlie Bonner, a veteran of stage and screen. It’s another tale of a man at a pivotal moment in his life – this time an “epic midlife crisis” that is “heartbreakingly funny”.
Prime Cut artistic director, also directing East Belfast Boy, said: “Both these plays, and Tinderbox’s The Man Who Fell To Pieces, are funny and real and encourage audiences to engage in an act of empathy as we understand the worlds in which these characters exist.”
East Belfast Boy debuts at the MAC tonight. The theatre productions are complimented by a series of free workshops and talks based on NI Public Health Agency’s Take 5 model of emotional wellbeing, hosted at the MAC.
For more information, stage times and booking, visit www.themaclive.com. Anyone who flicked through the TV channels rather than face the outside world on New Years Eve – like Ultimate did – will surely have alighted on the Nile Rodgers show on BBC One. And stayed there. He has had more hits than John Henry’s hammer, each one as irresistible as the last. Enough said, then, he’s headlining Belsonic at Ormeau Park on June 15. Good Times indeed. We told you last week about Volume Control and how great an opportunity it is for 14 to 19-year-olds who want to work in the music industry. Well, if that got you excited now is the time to act – for applications for this year’s course must be in by Monday, February 19. This year organisers Oh Yeah can also reveal that for the first time participants that complete the programme will be able to come away with an Open College Network qualification in events management. It’s a huge step for the project and an incredible opportunity for budding music industry and events professionals.
To apply, visit www. ohyeahbelfast. com.