The action of this play takes place in Northern Ireland during the harrowing period of sectarian violence known as the Troubles. During this era, which spanned from 1969-1998, the British army entered Northern Ireland to quell rioting between the largely Protestant Loyalists and the largely Catholic Nationalists, but ended up staying for almost thirty years, engaged in a bloody civil war with the local paramilitary organizations, including the IRA. This play explores the human side of the Troubles, the complex set of experiences and motivations that could lead one to build a bomb and shoot to kill. Our heroine, Aisling Kelly, was born and bred in Belfast to an Irish Catholic family. Unfortunately, Belfast is not the safest place to be a Catholic, and she and her family receive no shortage of abuses from the local police force, the British army, and Loyalist paramilitary groups. Aisling faces the choice of whether to sit by or fight back. She chooses the latter, and it lands her in Armagh Jail. Aisling's time in prison is a constant battle between the attempts of the guards to break Republican paramilitaries and the attempts of the women inmates to assert their agency and gain the rights of political prisoners. It is a battle in which there are no winners, and Aisling leaves with deep scars of trauma. This play pulls back the curtain of myth surrounding this period, showing the real, human lives and struggles of people involved in the Troubles. It is a story of laughter interrupting the sobs which interrupted silence. It is a story of love amidst an unimaginably long, deep hatred. It is a story of breaking down and rebuilding, and sometimes breaking down all over again. Fáilte go Bhéal Feirste.
"},{"label":"Degree","value":["Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors"]},{"label":"Author-supplied Keywords","value":["Troubles","Catholic","Ireland"]},{"label":"Administrative Note","value":"Drupal Node ID: 23635