It's a community play performed by community members and depicting a long ago community tragedy.
The not-for-profit theatre company Green Shoot Productions, in conjunction with the local New Lodge Road community-based Ashton Centre, are producing "The McGurk's Bar Tragedy," which is based on a major new work by award-winning playwright Martin Lynch.
The 35-strong local community cast from the New Lodge tell the story of the December 1971 bombing of McGurk’s Bar on North Queen Street which killed 15 innocent people and injured many others.
It was the single largest loss of life in Belfast in 30 years of the Troubles. The play is due to run on the main stage of The Waterfront Hall in Belfast this November.
The community members behind the play have set up a GoFundMe page to cover the expenses of the project.
Joe Doherty, who for almost nine years counted the hours and days in U.S. prisons, is acting as a publicist and has been tasked with reaching out to Irish America for support.
The community players were turned down for funding by the Belfast Arts Council and so the outreach both locally and across the Atlantic so as to give the play the platform they feel it deserves.
The GoFundMe page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-mcgurks-bar-tragedy.
