MY PLAY ISN'T ABOUT THE OMAGH BOMB - WRITER
My play isn't about the Omagh bomb - writer
AWARD winning playwright Carlo Gebler has rejected out of hand any suggestion that his new production, 10 Rounds is based on the Omagh bomb tragedy of 1988.
Relatives of the victims castigated Gebler for "insensitivity" in basing a play on the tragedy and, with it, scenes of alleged sexually explicit nature. The play, featuring Ballykissangel star Victoria Smurfit, begins a month-long run at the Tricycle Theatre in London's Kilburn tonight (Thursday).
A spokeswoman for the company said, in a statement, that the Tricycle Theatre has a long and honourable record of producing plays about the contemporary political situation in Ireland.
"10 Rounds was commissioned by The Tricycle Theatre company after the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's report into matters relating to the Omagh bomb was published last year.
"The play is fictional, though its subject matter touches upon some of the security and paramilitary issues raised in the Report. However, the play makes no reference to Omagh, the Omagh bomb or any of the victims of that atrocity.
"The play necessarily provokes a debate on the politics of Northern Ireland, paramilitary organisations, the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. It also strongly focuses on personal and public morality".
Carlo Gebler, 48, son of novelist Edna O'Brien and Ernest Gebler, is writer in residence at Maghaberry Prison and lives outside Enniskillen. Some of his previous works have been largely based on Irish historical documents, including the novels How to Murder a Man and the Killing of Brigid Cleary.
This week, he referred newspaper enquiries to his London publicist, yet he was clearly shocked that the Omagh interpretation had been taken by Omagh victims' relatives.
Handing over photo portraits of himself, on request, at his refurbished schoolhouse home, he said he honestly could not remember whether who had come up with the idea of Nuala O'Loan's Report first himself or the theatre company as a basis for a play.
At any rate, he has put flesh, heart and soul onto characters alluded to by Ms O'Loan, among them 10 Rounds' Mulligan the central character of the play.
A Sunday newspaper, which carried a scathing criticism of the playwright and the play from Michael Gallagher, whose son, Adrian, was one of those killed in the Omagh bomb, described the play as "erotic" and the script as "steamy".
It features a string of sexual liaisons between terrorist volunteers, prostitutes and security handlers.
The play also features an erotic encounter between a Republican spokeswoman and a government official.
Mr Gebler is quoted as saying that, far from being obsessed with politics, Irish people are, "passionately interested in sexual intercourse, drinking, having fun, shopping".
He read Nuala O'Loan's Report and based the play on people rather than politics: "I wanted to write something with people, their private and intimate and sexual lives, with a bit of politics in the background."
AWARD winning playwright Carlo Gebler has rejected out of hand any suggestion that his new production, 10 Rounds is based on the Omagh bomb tragedy of 1988.
Relatives of the victims castigated Gebler for "insensitivity" in basing a play on the tragedy and, with it, scenes of alleged sexually explicit nature. The play, featuring Ballykissangel star Victoria Smurfit, begins a month-long run at the Tricycle Theatre in London's Kilburn tonight (Thursday).
A spokeswoman for the company said, in a statement, that the Tricycle Theatre has a long and honourable record of producing plays about the contemporary political situation in Ireland.
"10 Rounds was commissioned by The Tricycle Theatre company after the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman's report into matters relating to the Omagh bomb was published last year.
"The play is fictional, though its subject matter touches upon some of the security and paramilitary issues raised in the Report. However, the play makes no reference to Omagh, the Omagh bomb or any of the victims of that atrocity.
"The play necessarily provokes a debate on the politics of Northern Ireland, paramilitary organisations, the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. It also strongly focuses on personal and public morality".
Carlo Gebler, 48, son of novelist Edna O'Brien and Ernest Gebler, is writer in residence at Maghaberry Prison and lives outside Enniskillen. Some of his previous works have been largely based on Irish historical documents, including the novels How to Murder a Man and the Killing of Brigid Cleary.
This week, he referred newspaper enquiries to his London publicist, yet he was clearly shocked that the Omagh interpretation had been taken by Omagh victims' relatives.
Handing over photo portraits of himself, on request, at his refurbished schoolhouse home, he said he honestly could not remember whether who had come up with the idea of Nuala O'Loan's Report first himself or the theatre company as a basis for a play.
At any rate, he has put flesh, heart and soul onto characters alluded to by Ms O'Loan, among them 10 Rounds' Mulligan the central character of the play.
A Sunday newspaper, which carried a scathing criticism of the playwright and the play from Michael Gallagher, whose son, Adrian, was one of those killed in the Omagh bomb, described the play as "erotic" and the script as "steamy".
It features a string of sexual liaisons between terrorist volunteers, prostitutes and security handlers.
The play also features an erotic encounter between a Republican spokeswoman and a government official.
Mr Gebler is quoted as saying that, far from being obsessed with politics, Irish people are, "passionately interested in sexual intercourse, drinking, having fun, shopping".
He read Nuala O'Loan's Report and based the play on people rather than politics: "I wanted to write something with people, their private and intimate and sexual lives, with a bit of politics in the background."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1100
Published Date: 19-Sep-02
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