Dan Gordon to make his Danske Bank Stage debut in co-production of The Shadow of a Gunm

Belfast-born Dan Gordon will next month make his long-awaited debut on the Lyric Theatre’s Danske Bank Stage in the new co-production with the Abbey Theatre of Sean O’Casey’s masterpiece The Shadow of a Gunman.

Best known for his portrayal of Red Hand Luke in the BBC Northern Ireland sitcom Give My Head
Peace, Dan Gordon also starred in Marie Jones’ acclaimed play A Night in November in the old Lyric Theatre in 2002, and directed her sell-out play Mistletoe and Crime at the Lyric in December 2014.

Gordon plays the role of Adolphus Grigson, an Orangeman living in the same Dublin tenement slum
as Donal Davoren - a romantic poet, mistakenly believed to be an IRA gunman in hiding by his
neighbours. Sensing that this assumed identity is winning him the respect and love of those around
him, Davoren does nothing to discourage the deception, but when the city is placed under curfew
his fantasy starts to feel uncomfortably real.  Funny, profound yet ultimately tragic, the play offers a
window onto the horrors of conflict and the allure of appropriating an alter ego when the
admiration of others is at stake.

This new production - the first Gunman at the Lyric for 10 years - is directed by Wayne Jordan and
stars award-winning Mark O’Halloran (Adam and Paul, Calvary), Amy McAllister (Philomena, Ruby Strangelove Young Witch) and David Ganly (Shakespeare in Love, The Weir) in addition to Dan
Gordon.

Executive Producer Jimmy Fay said, “Sean O’Casey is one of the most brilliant Irish writers of the last 100 years, and we’re really excited to be partnering The Abbey to bring this vibrant new production to Belfast and Dublin.  I’m a big admirer of Wayne Jordan’s work, and I’m sure that audiences will be as delighted as I am with the fresh approach to the play that Wayne has taken. This is a fantastic play that manages to be genuinely funny without shirking away from the realities of war, and it feels as contemporary today as it did in 1923”.

Previews will be on May 3, 5 and 6, and the production will run until June 6.

Tickets are priced from £15 - £24.50, and can be booked by calling the Lyric box office on 028 9038 1081 or online at www.lyrictheatre.co.uk

New comedy God of Carnage premieres at the MAC

This February (3-21st), Prime Cut Productions and the MAC will premiere God of Carnage, a hilarious social satire directed by Emma Jordan and starring Dan Gordon, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Ali White and Sean Sloan.

This grown-up comedy centres on the story of two sets of parents who meet up to deal with the unruly behaviour of their children in a very civilised manner.  What happens next is open to opinion – a calm and rational debate between grown-ups about the need to teach kids how to behave properly? Or a hysterical night of name-calling, tantrums and tears before bedtime?

This award-winning play (Tony Award for Best Play 2009; Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy 2009) received rave reviews on Broadway and the West End and now comes to Northern Ireland for the first time. Starring a stellar Northern Ireland cast that includes Dan Gordon, Ali White, Kathy Kiera Clarke and Sean Sloan.

Click here to book 

Giro d'Italia Fever from East Belfast

The company behind 'The Boat Factory' and 'Not About Heroes', Happenstance Theatre Company have brought us another fine piece of drama especially for the Giro d'Italia, Pink Lycra starring Michael Condron.

Guest Review: Nivelli's War by Cahoots NI at the MAC Belfast

By Dylan O'Rawe, aged 10

Tonight my mum and I went to see Nivelli's War.  It was the story of how a little boy called Ernst was evacuated to his aunt's house in the country when his city was bombed in World War 2.  He loved his mum very much and did not want to leave her, but it was too dangerous for him to stay and so he had to go so he would be safe.

When the war was over, a nice man helped him to find his way home even though when they first met each other they hated each other.  He showed Ernst magic tricks and then Ernst learned to do them himself.  When he grew up he became the great Nivelli, a magician.

I thought the story was really nice and I thought it was happy and sad.  I loved the magic tricks and the smoke which made it really spooky sometimes.  The music was cool and sometimes made me feel like something bad was going to happen.

My mum knows some people in the show and I knew Michael and Kerri because I've met them before with my mum.  All the actors were great but I thought that the great Nivelli was the best because he was really old and remembering back a long time and that was hard to act.  I loved Michael's smoke too and wanted there to be more, but I'm glad I wasn't sitting at the front.

I think all children should go to see the show because stories about the war are important for children to know about and history is really interesting.  If you like magic then you will love the trick at the end but my mum said not to write it here or I would spoil the surprise!

Dylan

Nivelli's War is at the MAC Belfast until Tuesday 11 March. Click here for tickets 

For tour dates check the Cahoots NI website by clicking here