A dramatic month at the Market Place

On a farm on the border, a fence needs repair after being destroyed by vandals. When Sinead finds Henry hungover in her field, she ropes him in to help. But re-building a fence is more complicated than it seems. What begins as a simple task soon turns to talk of their past, a reliving of old memories, and a relentless competition to come out on top. ‘The Border Game’ is a timely and powerful reflection on 100 years of the border and how it has impacted those who live along it.

Then on September 9, the political and historical fantasy ‘The Trial Of The Gaelic Lords Of Ulster In The Court Of History’, will see Conn O’Neill, the last Gaelic Lord of east Belfast, called from the grave to answer the charge that he and his fellow chiefs betrayed Ulster and her people. As in Anthony Russell’s other trial plays there is no fourth wall, the audience is the jury, and all are expected to vote guilty or not guilty only on the evidence presented.

The exceptional Kabosh Productions return on September 21 with the award-winning ‘Green & Blue’ exploring the painful and humorous realities faced by the individuals who patrolled the border during the height of the conflict. An officer from the Royal Ulster Constabulary in his green uniform, and Eddie from An Garda Síochána, resplendent in blue, communicate via crackly radios until an explosive incident forces them to meet across a field only farmers know the location of. Focusing on what it’s like to be hunted when you’re protecting a man-made line on the ground, the play looks at the societal and human cost of borders.

Tickets can be booked online at www.visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre.