‘Theatre of Witness’

As part of the Limavady Community Cohesion Project, people in the Limavady area were invited to a free pre-performance workshop of “Release” by Theatre of Witness at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre earlier this month.

“Release” was devised to give a voice to the people who have lived through, or played a role in the Troubles as they are often marginalised, forgotten or simply become invisible to society. The true, life stories are performed by the people themselves so that audiences can bear witness to their suffering, redemption and social justice.

The Project is funded under the European Union’s PEACE III Programme which is managed on behalf of the Special EU Programmes Body by the North East PEACE III Partnership.

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The two-hour, pre-performance workshop was hosted by Eamonn Baker, Coordinator of Towards Understanding and Healing. Eamonn screened excerpts of previous work and introduced some of the performers from “Release”.

Former British soldier, Adrian Duplock and wife of a bomb victim, Kathleen Gillespie, talked about the Theatre of Witness approach and why it has become a valuable tool to promote peace-building. The presentation included informal experiential story-telling exercises, followed by a question and answer session.

The event was well attended by history pupils from St Mary’s High School and local community groups. One participant commented: “It was very eye-opening and inspiring because it showed me more than one point of view.”

The participants will have the opportunity to see the performance at The Waterside Theatre in Londonderry on November 18.

Anyone else who lives or works in the Limavady Borough who would like to avail of free transport to one of the performances should contact Cohesion Officer Hollie Brown on 028 7776 0304.

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