{"id":3027,"date":"2015-02-13T14:30:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T14:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=3027"},"modified":"2015-02-13T14:30:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T14:30:34","slug":"over-the-wire-a-play-by-seamas-keenan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=3027","title":{"rendered":"Over The Wire: A Play by Seamas Keenan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over The Wire
\nWritten by Seamas Keenan
\nDirected by Kieran Griffiths<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Over The Wire was first performed in 2013 in the Derry Playhouse.\u00a0 Then it was directed by Kenny Glenaan the Scots director responsible for Spooks and more recently Charlie-the RTE series on Charles Haughey.\u00a0 This time round the reins are taken up by Kieran Griffiths and he doesn\u2019t disappoint.\u00a0 From the off the pace is unrelenting…90 minutes nonstop with no interval.\u00a0 The atmospherics are a standout\u2014lighting and background sounds with what seems like an ever swirling mist\u2014helps to transport us back to late October\/Early November 1974.\u00a0 You can feel the cold..the hunger and the isolation as the 5 Republican prisoners do what it takes to survive in the wake of the burning of Long Kesh camp. \u00a0The set design is very simple but hugely effective.\u00a0 A mini cage complete with gate and topped with barbed wire recreates-on a smaller scale-the old compounds of that era.\u00a0 It too is highly effectual in creating the shadowy effect and showing an almost post apocalyptic vista.
\nThe five actors virtually remain on stage for the duration of the play with one notable exception.\u00a0 At all times we are privy to their most private discussions.\u00a0 There is no hiding place and even their makeshift shelter built from the debris fails to conceal them.\u00a0 Throughout the years the humour and the camaraderie amongst political prisoners has been well documentary and it is given great scope here.\u00a0 The legendary sing songs, organised to lift flagging morale-The Broad Black Brimmer here alongside unforgettable pop classics like Running Bear.\u00a0 The gallows humour, the corny jokes, the pranks and the random classics-\u201c Name me the one woman in the whole world you would ride if you had the Chance\u201d…sure we all played that one.\u00a0 But I wonder how many came up with Lulu as their first choice.\u00a0 It was 1974 after all.
\n\"\"<\/a>5 actors-all Derry men by the sound of it-and it seems..even then\u2014that there was 5 different shades of Republicanism.\u00a0 Take Dee\u2014the OC-he wasn\u2019t even in the Movement before he was lifted and now he\u2019s dishing out orders at the behest of \u201cthat shower of shite in cage 6\u201d..who make all the rules.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the effervescent Dutch\u2014Jack the Lad type, fancies himself as a bit of a ladies man, takes everything at face value.\u00a0 But is impressionable and vulnerable.\u00a0 And Colin..who\u2019s girlfriend has just had a baby even though he has been in prison for two years.\u00a0 But he loves her and longs to be with her again.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s Lucas.\u00a0 Bit of a socialist apparently..trusts no one..has more than one axe to grind and seems like a far more natural OC than Dee.\u00a0 As the play progresses Lucas\u2019s mental state deteriorates at an alarming rate.\u00a0 Where the drama succeeds is in relaying the emotions and the real fears, the despair and the loneliness, the vulnerability of each person.\u00a0 Each individual has his personal dreads, his terrors, which at times-and particularly when we were young you do your best to disguise.\u00a0 All of this shown up in the glare of the searchlights and the strength of the writer and director is exemplified in the minutiae of long term life within a cage and under extremely terrifying circumstances.
\n\"\"<\/a>Without wanting to disclose too much of the main plot it is enough to say that that ever present and long standing fear within republicanism inevitably raises its head.\u00a0 \u00a0An informer in the ranks.\u00a0 Who..if anyone..in the cage is operating for the Brits…why are the 3 younger men always in a huddle?..Are they trying to undermine Dee and Lucas?..Are they plotting something?\u00a0 Even if Lucas\u2019s suspicions are founded would this be the catalyst for his demonic behaviour?\u00a0 One review described Over The Wire as \u201cshort, sharp, shock\u201d treatment.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t disagree entirely.\u00a0 There are some great one liners here..some incisive dialogue..a liberal smattering of agricultural language..a little nudity and plenty of violence.\u00a0 Overall I offer high praise to the production.\u00a0 The set is basically a small reproduction of a Lonk Kesh compound but utterly effective.\u00a0 High plaudits also to the technical staff and the production levels.\u00a0 But what impressed me most was the script.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t a clue whether Seamas is an ex prisoner or not but he nailed the intensity of some conversations and equally as important the banality of the rest of it.\u00a0 Go see.<\/p>\n

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Beano<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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