GBL Productions is delighted to announce the revival of Martin Lynch’s Ulster classic play The Interrogation Of Ambrose Fogarty. Arguably the most controversial Northern Irish play of the last 30 years, Fogarty stars Conor Grimes (Fireball in The History Of The Troubles) and BJ Hogg, Big Mervyn in Give My Head Peace.
With angry walk-outs, audience barracking and packed houses The Interrogation Of Ambrose Fogarty electrified Ulster theatre. Here was the raw politics of West Belfast transported like a political explosion onto the stage of The Lyric Theatre for the first time.
Set in a Police Station in West Belfast in the 1970’s Fogarty charts the story of two
very different prisoners over a three-day detention period. Political activist Ambrose Fogarty claims he is innocent of armed robbery. The Police Special Branch are convinced he isn’t. What follows is a dramatic stand-off, brutal and dehumanising. Into this bursts the anarchic Willie Lagan, a guitar-playing jokester who hasn’t a clue why he’s been arrested. Willie’s hilarious stay in the Police station demonstrates why the poet James Simmons called Lagan, “one of the greatest characters written for the Ulster theatre.”
This production of The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty is particularly timely, given the current debate on the future of policing in Northern Ireland. What are the parameters for the State when dealing with ‘terrorism’ ? What kind of rights should suspected ‘terrorists’ have in detention ? Should the Special Branch have special powers in special circumstances ? You make up your own mind.
“Riveting…..political theatre at its best.” IRISH TIMES
“Moves between great drama and hilarious comic scenes with ease…”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE
“Willie Lagan was quite simply hilarious…fantastic character”
BBC RADIO ULSTER
“Powerful…..some members of the audience couldn’t stop themselves shouting out at the actors.”
IRISH NEWS
| The Grand Opera House, Belast | August 2007 |
