REFLECTIONS ON OMAGH
Reflections on Omagh
An acclaimed new play loosely based on the 1998 Omagh bombing comes to Belfast next week, as part of the Out To Lunch festival. Writer Ross Dungan talks to Brian Campbell
MINUTE After Midday, an award-winning play based around the 1998 Omagh bombing, comes to Northern Ireland for the first time next week.
Young Dublin playwright Ross Dungan has written and co-directed the play, in which three characters tell their individual stories of that tragic day through three interconnecting monologues. The Real IRA atrocity - in which 29 people were killed, including a woman pregnant with twins - took place on August 15, 1998.
While the bomb exploded at about 3.10pm. Ross explains why he gave his play the title Minute After Midday.
"Some people might interpret from the title that the bomb went off at 12.01pm, when it actually went off later in the day - the title was more to encapsulate how quickly everything can change in a minute.
"There's the film Omagh, which is more of a factual account, but I didn't want to have the word 'Omagh' in the title because it can be transposed to different situations."
The Dubliner, who studied Advanced Playwriting at Trinity College, explains how he came to tackle the emotionally-charged subject of the Omagh bomb.
"I can't really pinpoint a particular moment of why I wanted to start writing about it. The play has three characters and I first thought about the little girl who was involved in the bombing and it all sort of sprang from there and that informed the other two characters.
"The whole story is loosely inspired by the Omagh bombing, but it could be substituted for several different atrocities and attacks in Northern Ireland.
"It happened at a time when people weren't expecting anything like that [after the Good Friday Agreement).
"People thought the worst was over but it was the worst single bombing of the whole Troubles. I remember clearly the memorial services for the victims and how intensely sad the whole thing was and I found it all profoundly affecting and very hard to watch.
"But the Omagh bombing was more of a starting point, because it's a fictional play inspired real events."
The play features three actors - Claire Hughes as Elizabeth, Jude Greer as Conor and Eimear O'Riordan as Marl.
"One is a girl who's a victim of the bombing, one is one of the perpetrators and then there's a woman who loses her husband in the bombing." says Ross.
"I was interested in putting one of the perpetrators on the stage. At no point would you come away thinking 'I understand his point of view' but it looks at how confused and taken advantage of this person was and in the play it's implied that he's incarcerated."
The play has been to Dublin, Galway and Edinburgh, but it comes to Northern Ireland for the first time on Tuesday.
"It will be the first time it's been played up north, which is a bit nerve-wracking. The subject is far more emotionally charged there obviously.
"Two of the cast are from Northern Ireland and one is from Cork." At Edinburgh, Minute After Midday won the prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award for innovation in new writing.
The Scotsman's critic Joyce McMillan said the play "tells us almost all we need to know about the horror, pity and outrage of war". Ross was pleased with the Edinburgh run last summer, which included a performance on the 13th anniversary of the atrocity.
"It seemed to go well. We got a few good reviews and towards the end we won the Fringe First and things started to pick up, which was really nice.
"I'd hate to think of the play as depressing: I'd see it as more uplifting and cathartic."
He says there is now talk of the play going to London New York and possibly back to Belfast for an extended run after the two shows next week.
An acclaimed new play loosely based on the 1998 Omagh bombing comes to Belfast next week, as part of the Out To Lunch festival. Writer Ross Dungan talks to Brian Campbell
MINUTE After Midday, an award-winning play based around the 1998 Omagh bombing, comes to Northern Ireland for the first time next week.
Young Dublin playwright Ross Dungan has written and co-directed the play, in which three characters tell their individual stories of that tragic day through three interconnecting monologues. The Real IRA atrocity - in which 29 people were killed, including a woman pregnant with twins - took place on August 15, 1998.
While the bomb exploded at about 3.10pm. Ross explains why he gave his play the title Minute After Midday.
"Some people might interpret from the title that the bomb went off at 12.01pm, when it actually went off later in the day - the title was more to encapsulate how quickly everything can change in a minute.
"There's the film Omagh, which is more of a factual account, but I didn't want to have the word 'Omagh' in the title because it can be transposed to different situations."
The Dubliner, who studied Advanced Playwriting at Trinity College, explains how he came to tackle the emotionally-charged subject of the Omagh bomb.
"I can't really pinpoint a particular moment of why I wanted to start writing about it. The play has three characters and I first thought about the little girl who was involved in the bombing and it all sort of sprang from there and that informed the other two characters.
"The whole story is loosely inspired by the Omagh bombing, but it could be substituted for several different atrocities and attacks in Northern Ireland.
"It happened at a time when people weren't expecting anything like that [after the Good Friday Agreement).
"People thought the worst was over but it was the worst single bombing of the whole Troubles. I remember clearly the memorial services for the victims and how intensely sad the whole thing was and I found it all profoundly affecting and very hard to watch.
"But the Omagh bombing was more of a starting point, because it's a fictional play inspired real events."
The play features three actors - Claire Hughes as Elizabeth, Jude Greer as Conor and Eimear O'Riordan as Marl.
"One is a girl who's a victim of the bombing, one is one of the perpetrators and then there's a woman who loses her husband in the bombing." says Ross.
"I was interested in putting one of the perpetrators on the stage. At no point would you come away thinking 'I understand his point of view' but it looks at how confused and taken advantage of this person was and in the play it's implied that he's incarcerated."
The play has been to Dublin, Galway and Edinburgh, but it comes to Northern Ireland for the first time on Tuesday.
"It will be the first time it's been played up north, which is a bit nerve-wracking. The subject is far more emotionally charged there obviously.
"Two of the cast are from Northern Ireland and one is from Cork." At Edinburgh, Minute After Midday won the prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award for innovation in new writing.
The Scotsman's critic Joyce McMillan said the play "tells us almost all we need to know about the horror, pity and outrage of war". Ross was pleased with the Edinburgh run last summer, which included a performance on the 13th anniversary of the atrocity.
"It seemed to go well. We got a few good reviews and towards the end we won the Fringe First and things started to pick up, which was really nice.
"I'd hate to think of the play as depressing: I'd see it as more uplifting and cathartic."
He says there is now talk of the play going to London New York and possibly back to Belfast for an extended run after the two shows next week.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1062
Published Date: 07-Jan-12
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