What I was up to last weekend/week

Last weekend, I decided to go see The History of the Troubles According to My Da'. I've always wanted to see something at the Grand Opera House in Belfast and this play really appealed to me so I made a go of it. 

According to Martinlynchproductions.com  "The History Of The Troubles (accordin’ to my Da) is a fast frenetic, hilarious laugh-a-minute comedy – yes, a comedy – set against the last 34 years of the Northern Ireland troubles. It tells the story of how the troubles affected one ordinary Belfast man, Rolling Stones fan, Gerry Courtney. Gerry’s story begins on the first day of the outbreak of the troubles – 14^th, August, 1969 – in the waiting room of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. He is expecting the birth of his first child, while just outside the hospital windows, parts of the city are going up in flames.

Gerry’s life will never be the same again.

The play takes us through Gerry’s struggle to retain his sanity against the chaos created by such epic events as Internment, Bloody Sunday, no-go barricades, The Loyalist Workers Strike, The Hunger Strikes, sectarian tensions, Bill Clinton’s visit and the ceasefires. Along the way we meet some of the maddest, baddest, funniest characters Belfast has ever known, such as, Fireball the-nutty-hospital-porter,

Maggie Morrelli the 69-year-old-hijacker, Goon, the Long Kesh wit, Felix the scare-mongering-neighbour, Andy the would-be-IRA man, and many, many more.

You  will never think of the Northern Ireland troubles again without wanting to laugh out loud." 

I really enjoyed the play. It was absolutely hilarious and it was nice to see something about Belfast that was funny, instead of the sometimes tragic movies, plays, etc. you normally stumble across. There were a few parts I did not understand either because of the accent or the humor was about something more local that I hadn't heard about. 

However, I still had a great time and found the inside of the Grand Opera House as beautiful as I had expected it. It was very ornate and majestic and I could have spent more time after the play wandering around looking at all the details. 

I thought the ending of the play was very poignant. It ended with Gerry holding his grandbaby expressing how the child was a blank page and didn't know anything and could start fresh.  With every child born here, there is a chance for a fresh start. The child doesn't know anything about The Troubles and could pave a new future for the country. So I found the last scene to be a very good message to the audience. 

On Sunday, I had another round of visitors from the States. My lifelong friends, Michael and Elyse. They had flown into Dublin on Wednesday and explored Galway as well before making their way up north to Belfast. 

That night we attended Julie Fowlis in concert as part of the Cathedral Quarters Arts Festival (the play was also a part of the festival.) For those of you who have seen the movie Brave, Julie has several songs on the soundtrack. 

The concert was really great and the venue was as well. Held under a black tent with sparkling lights up above, made for a quaint and cosy place to watch Julie sing. 

The next day they went to the Titanic museum while the rest of the YAVs had our regular Monday meeting. Then David, Tricia, and I met back up with them to climb Cavehill.

David, Elyse, Tricia, Michael and I on our way up Cavehill.  

Elyse, Michael, and I on top of Cavehill.

That night Elyse and Michael came bowling with me and got to meet the Garnerville bowlers which was fun. On Tuesday, they went on a tour of the north coast while I worked and then we all met up again for dinner and drinks at the John Hewitt. A popular pub in Belfast with traditional Irish music on Tuesday nights. It was the first time I had been there too so it was a new experience for all of us.

Wednesday, Doug took us all on a tour of Belfast. He showed us various murals on both sides and talked to Elyse and Michael about the history of Belfast and Northern Ireland. Then sadly, I saw them off to go back to Dublin to fly out the next day. It was a really short visit but it was still very good to have them here and show them what I've been up to for the past 8ish months.