In Ryan’s bar on Friary Street Kilkenny, an invited audience got to see a preview of Thomas Kinsella’s work, ‘The Butchers Dozen’.
Presented by Playactin’ Theatre company, it is a new work with the Dublin poets words forming the background and telling the horrific story of Bloody Sunday. Kinsella’s Butcher’s Dozen is a fierce 1972 political poem, written in furious response to Bloody Sunday and the Widgery Report. It features the ghosts of the thirteen dead men returning to condemn British injustice and the whitewashed tribunal.
For those who remember that horrible day, it will rekindle the outrage that was experienced following the murder of 13 innocent people, and the wounding of 14 others.
For those who are not au fait with the story, do yourself a favour. Go, see, and learn about that day – January 30 1972 when the Bogside area of Derry, turned red.
GRAVE WORDS
The show, adapted and directed by Geoff Rose, expresses rage at Lord Widgery’s official inquiry, which blamed the victims and exonerated the British military. The ghost-victims rise from the dead to speak, rejecting calls to quietly “forget and look ahead” regarding state violence.
ANGER AND RAWNESS.
The poems opening lines :
‘I went with Anger at my heel
Through Bogside of the bitter zeal
– Jesus pity! – on a day
Of cold and drizzle and decay.’
To do justice to the script, each actor had to relive the day; crawl under the skin of the deceased, and tell their story in all its gory detail. It needed rawness, conviction and empathy. The actors delivered. And some.
Wonderful performances from Cathal McFarlane, Sé Nicholson and Paul Clifford.
AKA
The Butchers Dozen will be performed during the AKA Festival on August 7 and 14 at Ryan’s Bar.
A wonderfully told story and such a major part of Irish history. Well done to all and a credit to Playactin’ theatre for this exciting work.
FÓGRA: A 14th person died , four months after Bloody Sunday, from wounds received on the day
