7 August 1997 Edition
A community's starring role
Eoin O Broin went to see another superb production from Just Us
After the raging success of their last production the West Belfast women's theatre company, ``Just Us'' have hit the community art scene another deadly blow with their new show, ``Bin Lids'' at Féile an Phobail.
Taking place across five stages, and with only standing room for the audience, who unwittingly become part of the play, Bin Lids takes us through internment and the Springhill massacre into the demonisation of West Belfast following the killings of two British coporals during the funeral of Caoimhín Mac Bradaigh in 1987. The play is both tragic and hilarious as people's personal memories are mixed with political fact and speculation, with explosive consequences .
Just Us received a certain notoriety after they won the first Belfast City Arts Award earlier this year for Just a Prisoner's Wife. The political content was just too much for some unionists on the city council who made every effort to discredit the success of the women's company. If those same unionists happen to wander into the Whiterock Leisure Centre any night this week, they're liable to blow a fuse. Bin Lids is a no holds barred account of the events that have formed the West Belfast community.
There are moments when British soilders are being shot, set alongside shared moments of fear and solidarity. The horrors of internment and the terror of the hooded men is graphically portrayed, as is the brutality of prison life in Armagh and the Kesh. But it is the people of West Belfast who are the focus of the play; demonised, terrorised, and killed but never broken. Whether in organising ad hoc responses to internment, protests against the conditions in the jails, election campaigns in support of the hunger strikers or setting up a range of community based projects such as the women's centre and the community council, it is the community who are at the play's centre.
And of course, as with all communities, it is the women who are at its heart. It is no accident that the theatre company is an all female one, made up of community workers, former political prisoners, relatives of currently serving prisoners, political activists and even one city councillor. Just Us is a company with a difference. For this production a number of male professional actors were brought on board, but the focus remains on the women. In their multiple role as mothers, sisters, daughters, soilders, activists and endurers, there is never a moment when their strength wavers. Only the honesty of their emotions and the ability to see the human side underneath the conflict allows them to persevere through all that happens.
It is also important to point out that Bin Lids is not just a play but also a unique drama training programme. Dubbeljoint Productions, the Training for Women Network and Féile an Phobail with assistance from the Open College Network, and the Peace and Reconciliation Fund have all assisted in the project, one of whose aims is to provide training and employment for women in non-traditional skills such as scriptwriting and technical production thus enabling them to gain entrance into what has traditionally been a male dominated profession.
So Bin Lids, in the best political tradition, is working to effect change. If you do nothing else get to see the play, and if you can't get a ticket ring the festival office and demand they extend the run. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be angry , but most of all you will realise the strength and vitality of a community that despite all the odds has come through everything with spirits strong. Fair play Just Us.
After the raging success of their last production the West Belfast women's theatre company, ``Just Us'' have hit the community art scene another deadly blow with their new show, ``Bin Lids'' at Féile an Phobail.
Taking place across five stages, and with only standing room for the audience, who unwittingly become part of the play, Bin Lids takes us through internment and the Springhill massacre into the demonisation of West Belfast following the killings of two British coporals during the funeral of Caoimhín Mac Bradaigh in 1987. The play is both tragic and hilarious as people's personal memories are mixed with political fact and speculation, with explosive consequences .
Just Us received a certain notoriety after they won the first Belfast City Arts Award earlier this year for Just a Prisoner's Wife. The political content was just too much for some unionists on the city council who made every effort to discredit the success of the women's company. If those same unionists happen to wander into the Whiterock Leisure Centre any night this week, they're liable to blow a fuse. Bin Lids is a no holds barred account of the events that have formed the West Belfast community.
There are moments when British soilders are being shot, set alongside shared moments of fear and solidarity. The horrors of internment and the terror of the hooded men is graphically portrayed, as is the brutality of prison life in Armagh and the Kesh. But it is the people of West Belfast who are the focus of the play; demonised, terrorised, and killed but never broken. Whether in organising ad hoc responses to internment, protests against the conditions in the jails, election campaigns in support of the hunger strikers or setting up a range of community based projects such as the women's centre and the community council, it is the community who are at the play's centre.
And of course, as with all communities, it is the women who are at its heart. It is no accident that the theatre company is an all female one, made up of community workers, former political prisoners, relatives of currently serving prisoners, political activists and even one city councillor. Just Us is a company with a difference. For this production a number of male professional actors were brought on board, but the focus remains on the women. In their multiple role as mothers, sisters, daughters, soilders, activists and endurers, there is never a moment when their strength wavers. Only the honesty of their emotions and the ability to see the human side underneath the conflict allows them to persevere through all that happens.
It is also important to point out that Bin Lids is not just a play but also a unique drama training programme. Dubbeljoint Productions, the Training for Women Network and Féile an Phobail with assistance from the Open College Network, and the Peace and Reconciliation Fund have all assisted in the project, one of whose aims is to provide training and employment for women in non-traditional skills such as scriptwriting and technical production thus enabling them to gain entrance into what has traditionally been a male dominated profession.
So Bin Lids, in the best political tradition, is working to effect change. If you do nothing else get to see the play, and if you can't get a ticket ring the festival office and demand they extend the run. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be angry , but most of all you will realise the strength and vitality of a community that despite all the odds has come through everything with spirits strong. Fair play Just Us.