Event Type: Performance, Drama, Music or Film

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN 1972: Voices from the Heart of The Troubles

Presented by The Playhouse Theatre and Peacebuilding Academy

Written by Damian Gorman

Directed by Kieran Griffiths.

The statistics for 1972- the worst year of the ‘Troubles’- are astonishing: almost 500 killings (nearly 100 in the month of July alone); 10,000 shootings, 2,000 explosions, and almost 5,000 people physically injured.

But statistics only take you so far, and they don’t take you inside the hearts of people who were there. 1972 was an extraordinary year- a year when it felt like anything could happen- but it was a year of lives as well as deaths. And here is an evening of voice, of people- gathered by the poet Damian Gorman- which carries inside stories of both.

As part of the production, those who have lost loved ones in the Troubles, due to Covid-19, or in any circumstance, were invited to contribute to Anything Can Happen 1972.  They were able to send objects or photographs of significance or importance to them, to be placed on the other 130 empty chairs in our theatre. This is so that instead of absence, the chairs have something very significant and important on them, to be lit by theatre lights in an act echoing Seamus Heaney’s famous work Mossbawn: Two Poems in Dedication, in which he describes ‘a sunlit absence’.

Teanga an Phobail/ Language of the community/people – Liam Ó Corraí

Glór Dhal Riada is the local Irish Language and Culture development group that was established within the Ballymena and Glenravel Area in 2008. The group’s name is appropriate to the Mid and East Antrim area as it is derived from the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dal Riada that included north east Ulster and a sizable portion of western Scotland and its Islands. Dal Riada was founded by Gaelic Irish migrants who brought their Language, and writings with them. Ths song performance is from Liam Ó Corraí .

Teanga an Phobail/ Language of the community/people – Lorcán ó Darach & Louis Young

Glór Dhal Riada is the local Irish Language and Culture development group that was established within the Ballymena and Glenravel Area in 2008. The group’s name is appropriate to the Mid and East Antrim area as it is derived from the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dal Riada that included north east Ulster and a sizable portion of western Scotland and its Islands. Dal Riada was founded by Gaelic Irish migrants who brought their Language, and writings with them. This performance is from Lorcán ó Darach & Louis Young.

Teanga an Phobail/ Language of the community/people – Lasairfhíona Nic Ruairí, Harpist, from Glór Dhal Riada

Glór Dhal Riada is the local Irish Language and Culture development group that was established within the Ballymena and Glenravel Area in 2008. The group’s name is appropriate to the Mid and East Antrim area as it is derived from the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dal Riada that included north east Ulster and a sizable portion of western Scotland and its Islands. Dal Riada was founded by Gaelic Irish migrants who brought their Language, and writings with them. This performance is from Lasairfhíona Nic Ruairí from Glor Dal Rhiada playing the Harp.

Teanga an Phobail/ Language of the community/people – Conn Fyfe, Irish Dancer, Seven Towers, Ballymena

Glór Dhal Riada is the local Irish Language and Culture development group that was established within the Ballymena and Glenravel Area in 2008. The group’s name is appropriate to the Mid and East Antrim area as it is derived from the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dal Riada that included north east Ulster and a sizable portion of western Scotland and its Islands. Dal Riada was founded by Gaelic Irish migrants who brought their Language, and writings with them. This performance is from Conn Fyfe, an Irish Dancer from Seven Towers, Ballymena.

Teanga an Phobail/ Language of the community/people – Nigel and Elaine Black from Glór Dhal Riada

Glór Dhal Riada is the local Irish Language and Culture development group that was established within the Ballymena and Glenravel Area in 2008. The group’s name is appropriate to the Mid and East Antrim area as it is derived from the ancient Gaelic overkingdom of Dal Riada that included north east Ulster and a sizable portion of western Scotland and its Islands. Dal Riada was founded by Gaelic Irish migrants who brought their Language, and writings with them. This performance is from Nigel and Elaine Black from Glór Dhal Riada.

Launch of Gail’s Story Animation

East Belfast Mission will virtually launch the first of a series of animations which tells the story of local East Belfast Woman, Gail McCune, whose discovery of a love for the Irish Language inspired her to embark on a life changing study of Irish. This has included a Distinction in the Irish Language Diploma at the University of Ulster and she is currently studying a degree course in Irish and Archaeology at Queen’s University.

The online event will include a Q&A session with Gail and a number of people involved in the creation of the animation.

“The Year We Bide At Hame” Documentary

‘The Year We Bide At Hame’ is an insight into the Orange Order in Strabane District and its reaction to the implications of Covid-19. This documentary gives people an understanding of the invaluable charity work the Order carries out in their communities.

The documentary was screened on the Bready and District Ulster Scots Facebook page

Celebrating Communities- A Short Film

The Triax Social Economy Project presents a short video ‘Celebrating Communities’ that highlights the shared experiences of residents from both the CNR and PUL communities growing up within the Triax area. The video gives an insight into how attitudes have changed over time with residents from both sides of the Peace Wall coming together to embrace each other’s cultures.

This film was shown online via the Triax Neighbourhood Management Facebook and Twitter pages.