Freedom of the City staged

By Kath Gannaway
THE Athenaeum Theatre’s next play “Freedom of the City” dramatises, in a very exciting way, contemporary Irish History, which still remains unresolved to this day.
Noted playwright Brian Friel, first staged the play in Chicago in 1973, based on the events that occurred on Sunday 30 January 1972, widely known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Set in Derry, Ulster, Northern Ireland this exciting drama and theatrical presentation will depict the events leading to the death of 14 innocent civil rights protesters.
By using all the theatrical skills at its disposal, and a team of talented actors, ATC will bring to life the tragic story of three of those killed on that fateful day.
Complex lighting and staging will take audiences, on a stimulating journey from the mayoral chambers in the Guildhall to the rallying masses in the Derry streets below and up to the Guildhall battlements and on to the Court Room. It is in this room that Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, endeavours to make some sense of what happened on that terrible day in January 1972.
The ATC has chosen to present this play to its patrons, just as The Saville Inquiry, commissioned by the Blair Government in the U.K. is due to be handed down; some thirty six years after the sad events took place.
The need for this second inquiry will be revealed within the play.
The show contains some “contemporary” language, but the ATC has taken great care to present a sensitive and accurate depiction of these historical events, which will allow audiences to draw their own conclusions as to how and what role politics played in “Bloody Sunday”.
This is not a fictitious work but a playwright’s view of an actual part of Irish history that forms part of the current English Literature curriculum for year 12 students.
For tickets phone the Athenaeum at Lilydale on 9735 1777.