ANOTEFROMOUREXECUTIVEPRODUCER

It is now exactly a year since the COVID-19 virus closed all theatres from Broadway to the West End, including the Lyric Theatre. I don't think anybody could tell one year ago just how long this would continue or foretell quite how devastating the pandemic would be to so many and expose the vulnerability of the Arts sector.

Despite the very real gloom, the Lyric has been, in many positive ways, a hive of activity since April last year. We immediately saw that we had to close the theatre to keep the public safe before it became mandatory. Our best way to survive was to go online with various productions and become almost like an old-style studio house. Our achievements include New Speak, one of the first original streaming works created in the pandemic and broadcast weekly last April. Seven short films called Splendid Isolation written, starring and directed by Northern Irish talent, which we produced with and broadcast on the BBC last May. The digital audio co-production of Denouement, a brilliant new play by John Morton that deals with an ongoing apocalyptic moment in our future – curiously, it was written before the pandemicwith the Traverse Theatre. The many audio productions of Listen at the Lyric. Our work with young people continued with Drama Studio, workshops, schools resources, and our ongoing community projects. We lobbied hard for more public support and acknowledgement of the vital role of the arts in Northern Ireland. In a typical year, the Lyric employs 450 freelance artists; with these new digital, online, TV broadcast initiatives, we will have employed over 300 freelancers during this crisis.

Our most ambitious production so far during this time is this startling new play, initially commissioned by Field Day Theatre Company, Sadie by David Ireland. David Ireland is one of our most provocative and talented writers. What he has to say is often uncomfortable and disturbing, but it is vital we hear and experience his voice.

I am very grateful for the faith BBC Arts have shown in us and for including us in Lights Up, a theatre season to be transmitted on the BBC from the end of March. It has been hugely energizing to get our Lyric team back and working after a period of furlough.

To our knowledge, we were the first theatre to go into such an extensive production, starting rehearsals in January 2021. In many respects, the format sounds normal. Pre-production, four weeks rehearsal, one-week tech and then a production week. But during this time, what the entire company has achieved is extraordinary. Complying with ongoing shifting Covid guidelines was a mind-numbing headache that comes with producing work in this time. Two of the actors had to self-isolate for the first ten days of rehearsals and conduct their rehearsal over zoom. Tests were carried out each week to ensure everyone was safe and the work could continue. Each week we awaited the results of the screening process, and each week we added another potential carrier to the process – cast, crew, designers. Had any one of the company tested positive, we would have had to shut down and cancel the whole thing. We were on a knife-edge.

But we got there, and I am hugely grateful to everyone who worked on Sadie.

We have been able to produce this volume of work over this past extraordinary year because we have a full-time staff dedicated to the principles that govern the theatre, which is to create, inspire and entertain. If you can call surviving and creating during a global pandemic a success, the success of the theatre is down to the solid foundation of our whole Lyric staff.

Thank you, and we look forward to welcoming you back to this beautiful theatre soon. Until then, take care.

Jimmy Fay

ASSISTANTDIRECTOR,SEÓNSIMPSON

Over the past year Covid-19 has impacted our lives in ways that we could never have imagined. ‘Normality’ feels like a small lifetime ago. I didn’t really know what to expect going into rehearsals for Sadie in the midst of a pandemic but with weekly testing, daily temperature checks and tightly knit bubbles, the Lyric Theatre’s rehearsal room has felt like a pocket of such normality. It has been a privilege to be back in a theatre, working with an amazing cast and crew on such a painfully relevant piece examining lockdown, human connection, trauma, and Northern Ireland’s past. These themes are presented through Sadie - an impenetrable yet engaging woman, with fully formed thoughts and opinions. I have often found myself in awe of David Ireland’s writing and how much attention he has given to creating her.

Lockdown has come with many complications, and like Sadie, not everyone has been on board with government decisions, for fear of detriment to mental health and social wellbeing. You cannot ignore that the lockdowns have saved lives, however as the play touches on themes of domestic violence and abuse, I feel it would be wrong to ignore the difficulties that abuse victims have faced by being locked in with their abusers, or alone with their memories. One in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime, and the rate of domestic violence against men has been steadily increasing over the past few years.

Between 1st October 2019 and 30th September 2020 there were 32,015 domestic abuse incidents in Northern Ireland, which is an increase of 0.4% from data recorded by the PSNI for the previous year. There were increases in all major incidents apart from sexual offences. Domestic abuse crimes made up 19.1% of all recorded crime, which was an increase from 16.5% in the previous year. The largest increase in domestic abuse crime was for offences of harassment, which had increased by 49.8% from the previous year. The PSNI respond to an incident of domestic abuse every 17 minutes and on average women are assaulted 35 times before seeking help.

It is difficult to find statistics for domestic abuse cases in 1992 when Sadie and Clark would have been together, because the PSNI didn’t start recording this information until 2004/05. However, a study carried out by the University of Ulster with support from Women’s Aid outlines how the Good Friday Agreement has had an impact on incidents of domestic violence between 1992 and 2016. The threat of firearms attacks in domestic violence cases has greatly reduced and while the threat of paramilitary violence as a form of abuse still remains, it is less common than in 1992. Police officers have been more responsive to cases of domestic violence, however records of sexual violence within domestic abuse cases may not always be officially reported. Almost half of women interviewed in the study reported being sexually abused by their partner, yet this is not reflected in official statistics.

In the wake of the #MeToo and #WakingTheFeminists movements, I have noticed an increase in plays with themes of domestic, sexual, and physical abuse. Theatre can play a vital role in starting conversations about such topics, but too often I have felt that I am watching a voyeuristic retelling of trauma that causes me to detach from the content. This is why it has been inspiring to be part of a process where fully formed, beautifully written characters are given the space to be themselves without any caricature. The rehearsal space has been full of respect for the characters and their experiences. This a testament to David Ireland’s writing, Conleth Hill’s direction, and the skill of the actors.

With this in mind, I hope you enjoy the production as much as I have. It’s a shame that you’re not here to experience it live in the theatre but that day is on the horizon! If you are concerned about someone, or you are experiencing domestic violence and need help, there are people you can get in touch with:

PSNI 101 (non-emergency)

999 (emergency) - you can also report incidents online.

24 Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline - 0808 802 1414 (Open to women and men)

Women’s Aid - 028 9024 9041

Men’s Advisory Project (MAP) Belfast - 028 9024 1929

Men’s Advisory Project (MAP) Foyle - 028 7116 0001

LightsUp:Sadie

BBCFourWednesday31March22:30

BBCNorthernIrelandThursday1April23:30

Sadie is presented as part of BBC Lights Up; a major festival of UK theatre adapted for TV and radio at a time when theatres throughout the UK are closed. Continuing its Culture in Quarantine initiative - bringing arts and culture into the nation’s homes – BBC Arts has partnered with theatres across the country to produce this unprecedented season of 18 plays for audiences at home.

The international premiere of an unflinching new play from David Ireland centres on a Belfast woman reflecting on her turbulent life amidst the troubled past.

Sharp-tongued cleaner, Sadie, develops an intense, dysfunctional yet passionate relationship with a much younger man triggering a psychological showdown with the remnant demons of her past. She confronts these ghosts, calling out their contribution to the path life took her down. Expect challenging scenes through painful and harrowing subjects and shocking consequences.

Directed for stage and screen by Conleth Hill, Sadie is the first production on the main stage of the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, for a full year due to Covid-19 lockdown. The cast rehearsed in isolation, following Government guidelines, and features awardwinning actress Abigail McGibbon, David Pearse, Patrick Jenkins, Santino Smith and Andrea Irvine.

It was filmed for television without an audience, giving viewers at home an exclusive first look at David Ireland's new work.

Sadie is a Lyric Theatre Production in association with Field Day Theatre Company and is broadcast for BBC Arts' Lights Up festival as part of Culture in Quarantine.

Sadie contains very strong language and scenes that some viewers may find disturbing.

Abigail trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin.

Most recently she has appeared in the Lyric and Abbey Theatre’s Covid reactive pieces, Splendid Isolation and Dear Ireland, both written by David Ireland

As a founder of the Belfast Ensemble, she co-created the title role in their poetical work ‘The C**t of Queen Catherine and has appeared in most of their major works to date

Previous Lyric productions include: A Streetcar Named Desire; Lovers: Winners and Losers; St Joan; The Ladykillers; Can’t Forget About You (Tron, Glasgow); The Glass Menagerie, As The Beast Sleeps (Tricycle, London); Macbeth; How I Learned To Drive; A Whistle in the Dark

Other notable productions include: Everything Between Us (Rough Magic, Dublin); End of Hope, End of Desire (Oran Mor, Glasgow); The Odd Couple (Perth Theatre); Transparency, The Early Bird (Ransom Productions)

Her performance in David Ireland’s Everything Between Us earned her an Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Paddy is a Belfast native/based actor.

Lyric Theatre Credits: A Very Weird Manor, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dockers and To Be Sure.

Other Theatre Credits: The Sword in the Sand, Puckoon (Big Telly); Dancing Shoes: The George Best Story (GBL); The Odd Couple (David Hull); Closer and The Septic Tiger (Rawlife); Candide (Bruiser); Scenes From the Big Picture and Shoot the Crow (Prime Cut); Working Class Heroes (DubbleJoint); The Twits (An Grianan); The Wizard of Oz, & Oliver! (Grand Opera House); The Blind Fiddler (Grand Opera House & Edinburgh Fringe) & Inventors (Kabosh)

Film: Grace and Goliath, Wispa Boy (Cinemagic); Hunger (Blast Films), Endgame (Spectrecom Films)

TV: Into the Badlands (AMC); Limbo (Limbo Productions); Game of Thrones (HBO); 6 Feet Under (causeAscene Films) and Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust (BBC drama), Black Taxi (4x4); Photograph (NI Screen); Bel’s Boys (CITV), Pulling Moves, I Fought the Law and Eureka Street, Give my Head Peace (BBC).

David studied at the Samuel Beckett Centre, Dublin. He recently appeared in Splendid Isolation (Lyric Theatre/BBC).

Theatre includes: Ulysses, A Mid Summer Night's Dream, She Stoops to Conquer, The School for Scandal, Lolita, Henry IV (Part One), At Swim to Birds (Abbey), Eccentricities of a Nightingale, The Red Shoes, (The Gate Theatre, Dublin), The Playboy of the Western World (Druid Theatre)

David performed The Cripple of Inishmaan at Atlantic Theater, New York for which he was awarded the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor (2009) & nominated for a Drama League of America Distinguished Performance Award

TV: Musketeers, Moone Boy, Vikings, Paula, Trivia, The Last Kingdom, BrasSic David was nominated Best Actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival 2011 and Nominated Best Actor at IFTA 2012 for his role in Trivia

Film includes: Bad Day for the Cut, The Boys from County Hell, The Foreigner, Grabbers, Bloody Sunday, Six Shooter (which won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short in 2006).

Joao

Santino

Theatre credits: The Real Thing (Theatre Royal Bath); The Unemployed Actors Union (The White Bear); Jerusalem (The Watermill Theatre); Afters (The White Bear Theatre)

Film, TV and radio credits: Lynn & Lucy (BBC Films)

Mairead

Andrea was born in Lisburn, Co.Down and lives in Dublin.

Over the last 30 years she has worked with many of the major Irish theatre companies including The Abbey, The Gate, Druid and Rough Magic She appeared in Cyprus Avenue by David Ireland, a Royal Court/Abbey Theatre co production in 2018/19 in London, Dublin, Belfast and New York She has appeared in several Lyric productions over the years and is thrilled to be asked back to work on David's new play Most recently she appeared in The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh, a Covid compliant co production between the Abbey and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the glorious grounds of IMMA itself

She has worked regularly in film and television and is best known for her work on Red Rock (Virgin Media/BBC) as Dt Sgt Angela Tyrell and as Roisin Hastings, aka "Mrs Ted", in Line of Duty (World Productions/BBC) t and t the otland) at the or, Between Us The or, id Yes an't Forget About You (Lyric, Belfast), Cyprus Avenue (Abbey, Dublin/Royal Court, London/Public, NYC) and Ulster American (Traverse, Edinburgh) He adapted Lorca's Blood Wedding for Dundee Rep and Graeae

He was Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast 2011-2012 He won the Stewart Parker Award and the Meyer Whitworth Award in 2012 for Everything Between Us and was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright 2016 for Cyprus Avenue. Cyprus Avenue also won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play and the James Tait Black Award in 2017. In 2018, Ulster American won the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, a Scotsman Fringe First and the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Play.

He has written several radio plays and, for television, two episodes of The Young Offenders (RTE/BBC). He has a TV series in development with Sky Atlantic and is also writing a new play for Sonia Friedman Productions.

Conleth Hill Director

This is Conleth’s fifth decade with the Lyric He started on stage as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors in 1989

His directorial debut was with David Ireland’s Can't Forget About You With others among Abigail McGibbon at the Naughton studio in 2013, then revived for the Main stage in 2014 and the Tron Theatre in Glasgow in 2015

He directed Grimes and McKee’s The Umpire Strikes Back in 2018

He was back in the Naughton studio in 2019 with Spud alongside Conor Grimes and Kevin McAleer

In 2019 he directed a stage reading of Paul Gilmore’s Breakfast in Brighton which has since been taken up by the BBC’s writers room.

He has also directed David Ireland’s short film Love Lockdown again with Abigail McGibbon as part of the Lyric/BBC Splendid Isolation series.

Seón Simpson Assistant Director

Seón Simpson in a Belfast based theatre maker who graduated from Queens University Belfast in Drama Studies Seón has worked in an assisting role on projects such as Kafka’s Monkey, Dr Scroggy’s War, SPUD! (Lyric Theatre), Removed (Brian Friel Theatre), and Ubu The King (The MAC)

Directing Credits include: The Dumb Waiter, Now For the North (Lyric Theatre), Crave (Brian Friel Theatre), Let us go then, you and I (Accidental Theatre/Brian Friel Theatre), Spacewang (Elmwood Hall), Two Fingers Up (The New Theatre), Skin and Bone (The MAC), and Operation Ottolenghi/ Melons for Two (Accidental Theatre)

She was the recipient of the Brian Friel Medal (2017) and the James Ellis Bursary for Directing (2018), and currently is one of the MAC’s Hatch artists to focus on writing within creative partnership SkelpieLimmer (with Gina Donnelly). She cowrote and co-directed Two Fingers Up, which went on to win the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Fringe Festival’s Creative Thinking Award (2019), and was shortlisted for Fishamble New Writing Award (2019).

Stuart Marshall Set Designer

Stuart’s many previous designs at the Lyric Theatre include The Crucible, Dancing at Lughnasa, Of Mice and Men, Little Shop of Horrors, A Night in November, Macbeth, Charlotte’s Web, A Whistle in the Dark, The Hypochondriac, The Absence of Women, Translations, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Brendan at the Chelsea, Alice - the Musical, Our Country’s Good, The Ladykillers, Can't Forget About You, The Heresy of Love and Educating Rita

He has also designed for many other local companies, and has worked extensively as a scenic artist for theatre, opera, TV and film He is currently researching the architectural history of Belfast’s lost theatres and cinemas, bringing them back to life in a series of drawings and models.

Paul Keogan Lighting Designer

For Lyric Theatre: Shirley Valentine, Double Cross, Here Comes The Night, Mixed Marriage, Ghosts, The Blind Fiddler.

Other theatre: Happy Days, Blood in the Dirt, Postcards from The Ledge, The Walworth Farce (Landmark); The Great Hunger, Last Orders at the Dockside, Citysong, On Raftery’s Hill (Abbey Theatre); The Snapper, Hamlet, The Red Shoes, Molly Sweeney (Gate Theatre); Love, Love, Love (Lyric Hammersmith); I Think We Are Alone (Frantic Assembly, UK Tour); Lady Windermere’s Fan (West End); A Streetcar Named Desire, Twelfth Night and The Hudsucker Proxy (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse); Cyprus Avenue (Abbey/Royal Court/Public); Harvest (Royal Court); The Caretaker (Bristol Old Vic); Incantata, Trad, The Matchbox (Galway International); Far Away, Sacrifice at Easter (Corcadorca); The Gaul (Hull Truck Theatre); Blue/Orange, Tribes (Crucible); Born Bad (Hampstead); Novecento (Trafalgar Studios).

Opera and Dance: 20 Shots of Opera (Irish National Opera Film); Marriage of Figaro (Irish National Opera); The Return of Ulysses (Opera Collective); Falstaff (Vienna Staatsoper); Dialogues des Carmelites (Grange Park Opera UK); Powder Her Face (Teatro Arriaga, Bilbao); The Fairy Queen (RIAM); Maria de Buenos Aires (Cork Opera House); Wake (Nationale Reisopera); Lost (Ballet Ireland); Sama & Flight (Rambert); No Man’s Land (English National Ballet); Cassandra, Hansel and Gretel (Royal Ballet)

Chris Warner Sound Designer

Chris is a composer, sound designer, musical arranger and orchestrator whose range of work covers theatre, television and film.

Lyric credits: Listen At The Lyric, The Nativity – What the Donkey Heard, Double Cross, Blackout, Dark of the Moon, Dr Scroggy’s War, The Heresy of Love.

Other recent credits include: Audiences of the Future (The RSC), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory), Tide Jetty (Eastern Angles), ART (East Riding Theatre), Archie in Manhattan (Grand Opera House), Macbeth (RSC Associated Schools), 84 Charing Cross Road (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Frank Carson Rebel Without A Pause, The Boat Factory (Happenstance Theatre Company).

Recent producing, arranging & orchestration credits include: The Mauritanian (BBC Films), The Merry Wives of Windsor (The Royal Shakespeare Company), McMafia (BBC1), Make a Musical (BBC Learning, BAFTA nominated); A Portrait of John Doe (MercuryKX Records); Waiting Room (Thüringen Staatsballet).

As a composer for TV and Media Chris is published by Audio Network, producing original music that is featured extensively in TV, Film and Advertising in this country and around the world His latest album Wonders of the Cosmos, recorded on location at Ely Cathedral and Abbey Road, is now available on Spotify and iTunes, and features in the top 10 of Spotify’s Space-Themed Classical Music

Gillian Lennox Costume Designer

After graduating with a BA Hons in Fashion and Textiles, Gillian went on to be a designer within the fashion industry.

After a working for Marks & Spencer Menswear Gillian worked for a London based manufacturing/design company progressing to Head Designer supplying companies such as ASOS, Dunnes and A-Wear. Her designs were often featured in magazine editorials.

Gillian’s work took her overseas to Paris, Syria and Morocco where she gained insight into the process of textile design, garment and pattern construction.

Gillian continued with her own freelance work and has been a maker and illustrator for Universal Studios.

Gillian has assisted on the BBC Proms and Children in Need and designed and made the costumes for The Belfast Mela South Asian Dance Academy.

Lyric Theatre Credits: Designer Dr Scroggy’s War, Good Vibrations, Alice: The Musical, Double Cross, Rough Girls (Arts & Business Awards), Dark of the Moon, Peter Pan: The Musical and Shirley Valentine. Gillian was the costume supervisor on Street Car Named Desire which won best costume design at the Irish Times Theatre Awards

During the Pandemic Gillian worked at Belfast Harbour studio’s costume department for the forthcoming movie The Northman

Erin Charteris Costume Designer

Erin graduated from Queen’s University in 2011 with a BA Hons in English Literature She has worked at the Lyric Theatre since it reopened in 2011 and works full time in the costume Department as a Costume Assistant During a five month sabbatical from the Lyric she worked as a maker on Season 6 of Game of Thrones

She received a certificate in Historical Hairstyling in 2018 with Titanic Creative Management and has since made historically accurate wigs for museum interpretation. Lyric Theatre costume design credits include: The Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, The Comedy of Errors, Oedipus the King, Our Country’s Good, The Miracle, 55 Days, What Are They Like, Mistletoe and Crime, Eternal Love, The Ladykillers, Alice! The Musical and Peter Pan.

Other credits include: Yes, So I Said Yes, Normal, Breathing Water, The Golden Point and Afterwards, Frankenstein, Proni: Titanic Centenary Event, City Hall: Titanic Centenary Showcase and an immersive, site specific monologues from Stormont’s famous figures.

Lemuel Black Fight Director

Lemuel Black is a stunt coordinator and performer from Belfast, Northern Ireland Since an early age Lemuel had a passion for fight and action choreography and has trained in many aspects of combat from Muay Thai to handling 17th century weapons

From crashing off bikes to fighting dragons, Lemuel’s diverse work has convinced audiences over many different mediums. As a stunt performer he has doubled actors such as Russell Brand and Cokey Falcow and fought his way in and out of trouble in TV series such as Vikings, Penny Dreadful and feature films The Northman and The Last Duel.

With over 20 years action experience under his belt, it was 5 years ago that Lemuel set up Northern Ireland’s first professional stunt company Black Art Stunts and, whilst still enjoying action in front of the camera, has also turned his skills to stunt, fight and action co-ordination where he takes words from a script and brings the action to life in his own unique way. He has recently worked on feature films such as Stranger With a Camera and TV series such as The Deceived and Secret Life of Boys.

Lemuel is known for creating raw, realistic action that tells the cast’s story with vivid imagery. He aspires to deliver captivating action sequences, work with new talent and delight viewers of award winning productions.

Patricia Logue Voice Director

Patricia has worked extensively as a voice director in theatre and film in Ireland and the UK She has worked on numerous Lyric productions in the past 20 years and is delighted to be back here again, assisting on Sadie

Her most recent voice credits include Ballywalter (Empire Street Productions) and The Importance of Being Earnest (for Dominic Drumgoole's Classic Spring Season in the West End).

Patricia is a senior Acting tutor and a resident director at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and is an Associate Artist for the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff.