THE Ireland premiere ofxa0Bullet Catchxa0leads a thrilling line-up of international theatre treats at the Lyric for this year’s Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s.
Acclaimed performer, playwright and magician Rob Drummond plays modern-day marvel William Wonder in this theatrical magic show featuring mind-reading, levitation and games of chance – including the breath-taking ‘bullet catch’ stunt which even Houdini refused to attempt!
This gripping, edge-of-your-seat show has just finished a successful run at the National Theatre London and was a sell-out smash at the Edinburgh Fringe last year.
Another Festival first and piece of participative theatre, isxa0Pending Votexa0in which the audience become politicians for the night and vote the direction of the performance.
The Naughton Studio will be transformed into a parliament and each member of the audience will be given a remote control device to decide the future direction of our community. The issues will be relevant to Northern Ireland and will include hot topics such as identity, civil liberties, health and education. This is suitable for anyone aged 16 plus.
An undoubted highlight of the Festival is the Samuel Beckett classic,xa0Waiting For Godot, which profoundly influenced modern drama. This Northern Ireland premiere offers a new way of hearing Beckett with Gare St Lazare Players Ireland bringing their experience to stage this tragi-comedy.
As part of the Festival line-up, award-winning director Conall Morrison is directing a rehearsed reading ofxa0Death and Nightingalesxa0onxa0Wednesday 23 Octoberxa0in the Naughton Studio.
Set in Fermanagh in 1883,xa0Death and Nightingalesxa0deals forensically and passionately with people whose everyday lives are dominated by primordial suspicions and hatreds.
Parisian company, Theatraverse, present a French/English adaptation of Ionesco’s tragic farce,xa0Rhinoceros. Don’t worry you don’t need French to enjoy this performance! An epidemic of ‘Rhinoceritis’ has afflicted the inhabitants of an entire town, gradually transforming them all into rhinoceroses – except one person.
Richard Wakely, Director of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s said: “We are excited that the Lyric will be our home for the international theatre programme in this year’s Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s. The work we are presenting is a combination of innovative and contemporary theatre pieces such asxa0Bullet Catchxa0andPending Vote –xa0both of which will make their Irish premieres – alongside the classicxa0Waiting For Godot.
“Bothxa0Bullet Catchxa0andxa0Pending Votexa0reflect their respective creators’ interests in exploring the relationship between audiences and what they see on stage, whilst Samuel Beckett’sxa0Waiting For Godotxa0is a major new production that comes straight to us from the Dublin Theatre Festival. The new Lyric Theatre with its critically acclaimed auditoria is the perfect space for festival audiences to enjoy this unique drama programme.”
* xa0 Waiting for Godotxa0runs on the Danske Bank Stage, at the Lyric fromxa021 to 23 Octoberxa0at 7.45pm. Tickets £14 & £16.
* xa0 Bullet Catchxa0runs on the Danske Bank Stage, at the Lyric fromxa024 to 26 Octoberxa0at 7.45pm and Sat matinee at2.30pm. Tickets £14 & £16.
* xa0 Pending Votexa0runs in the Naughton Studio onxa021 & 22 Octoberxa0at 8pm. Tickets £10 & £12.
* xa0 Rhinocerosxa0runs in the Naughton Studio fromxa025 to 27 Octoberxa0at 8pm andxa0Sunday 7pm. Tickets £10 & £12.
* xa0Death and Nightingales, rehearsed reading is in the Naughton Studio onxa0Wed 23 October at 8pm.
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