AWARD-WINNING PLAY ON OMAGH BOMB MAKES NI DEBUT
Award-winning play on Omagh makes NI debut
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
AN award-winning play based around the 1998 Omagh bombing was performed in Northern Ireland for the first time on Tuesday of this week.
Minute after Midday was part of the 'Out to Lunch' Festival and had two showings at The Black Box theatre in Belfast.
Although he has not seen the production, Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son Aidan in the atrocity, said it is important that the story of what happened in Omagh on August 15,1998 continues to be told.
The Real IRA car bomb killed 31 people, including un-born twins, and maimed and injured hundreds of others.
Penned by Ross Dungan, it is a haunting memory play, which sees three characters relive the fear and the tragedy of the Omagh bombing.
While the three protagonists in the play are fictional and the time the bomb exploded was in reality 3.10pm, the play is based on the terrible events in Omagh.
In the production, Elizabeth Cosgrove is staring through the shop window at the Denim jacket soon to be hers.
Conor McKeating looks on as his brother frantically sprints down the hill towards their car, while Mari Jennings is waiting at home, by herself, for her husband who she believe to be at a Tyrone match across town.
The Dublin playwright, Ms Dungan explained, "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 is meant to encapsulate how quickly everything can change in a minute. One day I was just thinking about the event and these characters began to come to me.
"I just remember when the bomb went off in 1998 it was such an incredibly sad occasion, particularly as it came at a time in the Troubles when it seemed as if the worst was behind us and yet then came this bomb which was the worst yet."
Welcoming the use of the arts to tell the Omagh story, Michael Gallagher said, "It is important that what happened in Omagh is told to a wider audience. People need to learn about the cruel and horrific way that people died in Omagh in the hope that other people don't leave a bomb on a street and take so many lives and cause so much devastation."
BY RONAN McSHERRY
r.mcsherry@ulsterherald.com
AN award-winning play based around the 1998 Omagh bombing was performed in Northern Ireland for the first time on Tuesday of this week.
Minute after Midday was part of the 'Out to Lunch' Festival and had two showings at The Black Box theatre in Belfast.
Although he has not seen the production, Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son Aidan in the atrocity, said it is important that the story of what happened in Omagh on August 15,1998 continues to be told.
The Real IRA car bomb killed 31 people, including un-born twins, and maimed and injured hundreds of others.
Penned by Ross Dungan, it is a haunting memory play, which sees three characters relive the fear and the tragedy of the Omagh bombing.
While the three protagonists in the play are fictional and the time the bomb exploded was in reality 3.10pm, the play is based on the terrible events in Omagh.
In the production, Elizabeth Cosgrove is staring through the shop window at the Denim jacket soon to be hers.
Conor McKeating looks on as his brother frantically sprints down the hill towards their car, while Mari Jennings is waiting at home, by herself, for her husband who she believe to be at a Tyrone match across town.
The Dublin playwright, Ms Dungan explained, "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 is meant to encapsulate how quickly everything can change in a minute. One day I was just thinking about the event and these characters began to come to me.
"I just remember when the bomb went off in 1998 it was such an incredibly sad occasion, particularly as it came at a time in the Troubles when it seemed as if the worst was behind us and yet then came this bomb which was the worst yet."
Welcoming the use of the arts to tell the Omagh story, Michael Gallagher said, "It is important that what happened in Omagh is told to a wider audience. People need to learn about the cruel and horrific way that people died in Omagh in the hope that other people don't leave a bomb on a street and take so many lives and cause so much devastation."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/2039
Published Date: 12-Jan-12
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