Taking on the RUC with a straight bat
<i>Portadown Blues</i> | Theatre Workshop, Edinburgh
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.There's a great deal to applaud about this variously challenging production, marking the debut of Theatre Workshop's new company, the first in-house professional ensemble in Europe to integrate disabled actors fully into all its shows. Several of the cast being thus well-acquainted with intolerance and marginalisation, the theme of sectarianism, or more broadly, plain prejudice, is aptly chosen.
There's a great deal to applaud about this variously challenging production, marking the debut of Theatre Workshop's new company, the first in-house professional ensemble in Europe to integrate disabled actors fully into all its shows. Several of the cast being thus well-acquainted with intolerance and marginalisation, the theme of sectarianism, or more broadly, plain prejudice, is aptly chosen.
It's forcefully dramatised, too, centrally through the shocking real-life stories of Robert Hamill, a young Catholic man kicked to death by a Loyalist mob in Portadown three years ago - watched by four RUC men from their Land-Rover 20 yards away - and Rosemary Nelson, his family's solicitor, who was murdered by a car bomb last year.
By combining factually based and imaginary characters, both Irish and Scottish, together with a classic blues soundtrack, the play explores the multiple political and moral dimensions of its theme, from the RUC's attempts at a cover-up to the fundamental parallels between forms of bigotry everywhere, be it a Glasgow Rangers fan's sheep-like adherence to the Orange cause or lynch mobs in the American South.
A most eloquent moment comes early, when Nabil Shaban, who alternates between the roles of narrator and a lawyer, declares "I am black. I live in Mississippi. The year is 1962," to the accompaniment of Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit", and the projected image of a body hanging from a tree. This audiovisual tableau and those brief lines, in the context of Hamill's and Nelson's story, illuminates those wider connections with masterful economy.
Another cracking line arises from a conversation between Muz Murray's RUC officer, and his English boss, played by Tim Gebbels, where the latter advises "a straight bat" in handling the Hamill affair. "This is Northern Ireland, sir," comes the measured reply. "We don't play a lot of cricket around here." Again, a few words speak volumes - which makes it doubly disappointing that so much of Portadown Blues rams its message home so heavy-handedly.
To 21 Oct (0131 226 5425 )
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments