A Mother's Heart - to the heart of conflict
Ned Kelly previews another play by DubbelJoint which previews in West
Belfast and is set to take the country by storm
A Mother's Heart
DubbelJoint's latest offering, `A Mother's Heart', that opens in
Belfast at BIFHE (Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education)
on the Whiterock Road on Wednesday 24 February, expresses loss, grief
and anger with great power and authority.
A remarkable play, written by Pearse Elliot, a West Belfast man of
prodigious talent, and performed by `BinLids' veterans Brenda Murphy,
Bridie McMahon and Anne-Marie Meenan along with recently released
Republican POW Rosena Brown, it explores the loss suffered by four
women. The play consists of four monologues, each an unfolding tale
of a mother's loss of a child to the war. It represents the depth of
anger and pain, the real cost of the war, the real politics and it
confronts the rhetoric of party politics and Assemblies.
Pulling no punches, it looks squarely in the face at the difference
between Loyalist and Republican violence while allowing no room for
complacency or equivocation. It shows Loyalist violence in its purest
form, exploring the depth of hatred Loyalists have shown towards
Catholics. The play also explores the battle to keep hatred, as a
reaction to loss, at bay. By turns difficult and unrelenting there is
also a dark humour and great warmth.
The skill and maturity of Elliot's pen in creating four women, all
mothers, all united by loss, all human, lets the audience in, close
in to the intimate, desperate half mad world of their grief and
anger.
One of the four actresses, Rosena Brown, told An Phoblacht, ``there
are parts of the play I can identify with; being a mother who lost a
son, being a single-mother, the loss of close relatives to the war
and the frustration of rearing teenagers in this climate.
``It also brings real humanity to the grief of loss, they are not just
names on the news, where you read about deaths but then get
distracted, this play really hits home.''
From one line in `Just a Prisoners Wife', to one monologue in
`BinLids' and now 25 minutes on stage alone in `A Mother's Heart'
Anne-Marie Meenan's growing confidence mirrors the leap forward of
the community as a whole in recognising not only their part as a
catalyst for change and growth but also in understanding the effects
of the war. Meenan said, ``everybody will relate to this because
everyone has experienced it, but for someone to tell it up on stage
is something entirely new.''
Brenda Murphy, another `BinLids' veteran who is also busy researching
and writing material for a new play about the RUC to be unveiled
later this year, said, ``the play has echoes for a lot of women -
including my own mother - who have lost someone. It has a rage and an
anger. It invokes that rage especially for women who have lost a
child where the surge of love is thrown against the wall of loss,
grief, guilt and hate but there is also the biting humour that is
typical of Belfast.
``Some people, especially men, might feel uncomfortable and it doesn't
allow you to laugh it off, it must be confronted but I hope people
will be big enough to put aside the politics and understand the
emotions of it. It is the first play during my lifetime, during the
war, that has addressed the issues that women have kept hidden and
this play allows them to become public.''
Writer Pearse Elliot, from the Lenadoon area of West Belfast, is a
talent just on the verge of real fame. He cut his teeth with radio
drama and was the winner of the BBC Young Playwright of the Year in
1996. He has a novel soon to be published and a number of screenplays
in the pipeline. His first film feature `Rap at the Door' will be
screened on BBC 2 on 7 March at 10.30 pm. It deals with the
controversial subject of those who were killed and whose bodies have
never been found. Elliot has the energy and candour of youth married
to a keen observational eye and compassion. He expressed real
pleasure at the way the production was bringing his words to life.
``This play,'' he said, ``is a real first. I don't think there has ever
been a play like it, that articulates women's rage and humanity, done
by women who have lived through it and have something to say.''
Director Pam Brighton, who has established a tradition of premiering
plays in West Belfast, and has struggled to bring quality drama that
is meaningful and relevant to the area, said, ``the energy and quality
of Pearse's writing along with the performances of the four actresses
vindicates the argument for the development of a permanent base in
West Belfast to tap into the talent and creativity here.''
A Mother's Heart is a truly great work of drama that will help both
to move the debate on about what is needed to create a new and just
Ireland and to heal the destructive hate of the last 30 years. Every
politician currently procrastinating over the future of generations
of mothers to come should be made to watch it. Not to be missed.
24-27 February BIFHE, Whiterock Road Belfast
For Tickets: The Green Cross Art Shop (Falls Road), XL Shop & Stop
(Castle Street), or contact DubbelJoint (01232) 202222
Other dates:
- 1-2 March ‹ to be confirmed
- 3 March ‹ St Canice's Hall Dungiven
- 4-6 March ‹ Backstage Theatre (043) 47888 Longford
- 9-13 March ‹ The Everyman Palace (021) 501673 Cork
- 15 March ‹ The Garage Theatre (047) 81597 Monaghan
- 16 March ‹ The Bardic Theatre (01868) 725311 Donaghmore
- 18 March ‹ Drumlin House (049) 52605 Cootehill
- 19-20 March ‹ Cornmill Theatre (049) 39612 Carriglen
- 22 March ‹ Parochial Hall c/o Biddies (075) 21219 Dungloe
- 23 March ‹ Balor Theatre (074) 21254 Ballybofey
- 24-25 March ‹ The Playhouse (01504) 373538 Derry
- 26-27 March ‹ The Riverside Theatre (01265) 51388 Coleraine
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