Herstory walking tours return

Sole Purpose Productions is bringing their highly successful dramatised walking tour of the Walls back for a limited run from tomorrow, Thursday, March 20 until Saturday.

An engaging and exciting theatrical tour that illustrates the often overlooked history of the women of Londonderry, it was written by Anne Crilly, award winning film maker and lecturer at the University of Ulster. The tour brings vividly to life the varied and vital roles that women in the city have played over the years. Starting at the Guildhall where local Suffragettes met a hundred years ago, this theatrical journey around the walls focuses on key female characters and events. Eleanor Marx and Mrs Pankhurst meet local shirt factory workers and suffragettes, Cecily Jackson is burned at the stake for infanticide, discover how Cathy Harkin and local women founded Women’s Aid in Pump St, learn about the lives of women during the Siege of Derry and the Civil Rights Movement. It’s history, but not as you know it, it’s HERstory.

This innovative piece is produced by Patricia Byrne, Artistic Director of Sole Purpose Productions along with Debbie Caulfield. The women from history will be played by local professional actors Abby Oliveira, Gemma Walker and Nicky Harley. The tours are open to everyone – women, men, community groups, tourists, school groups – anyone who would like to know more about how women helped shape the city.

Commending the tour, producer, Patricia Byrne, said: “we are absolutely delighted to be able to run the Herstory walking tours again. They were a wonderful success last year, and made such an impression on all the people who walked the walls with us. The history of the women of Derry Londonderry is so rich and diverse, seeing it brought to life like this is an opportunity not to be missed.”

There will be one tour each day tomorrow, Thursday, March 20, Friday and Saturday, starting at 11am on the Guildhall steps. The tour lasts an hour and will end at Cafe Soul where light refreshments will be available. In case of bad weather performances will take place at the back of Cafe Soul. Tickets cost £5. Places are limited so booking in advance is essential, by telephoning 028 7127 9918 or emailing [email protected]