FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2026
GROUP!
The central ensemble of 'GROUP!'. Production Photo: Neil Harrison
The 2026 adaptation of Conor Mitchell's GROUP!, a musical co-penned by Mitchell and Matthew Hurt and performed by the Belfast Ensemble at the city's Lyric Theatre, is a genuinely treasurable experience – a deliberately discordant and openly cacophonous collection of sentences, visuals and songs that bursts out into the audience in the form of a hyperactively melodramatic comedy opera. Capitalised, and capitalised upon, for emphasis and explanation in its title and its scenario, GROUP! is awe-inspiring, a setting where music is theatre, power and an antidote to loneliness all at once among a group of alternative F.R.I.E.N.D.S who, if given the choice, would perhaps rather not be there for each other.
The implication that the group of this production are present not for one another but for themselves, a collection of individuals temporarily united by requirement rather than desire, is central to the overall conflict and their conflicts. Drawn together in Belfast for therapeutic intent, in a session bookended by Fergus Wachala-Kelly's cameo as a yogi and an artist - don't worry, it'll make sense when you see it - are Rosie Barry's Jean, Adam Dougal's Frank, Colette Lennon Dougal's Jackie, Matthew Cavan's Chris, Carol Moore's Barbara and Darren Franklin's pivotal Emmet, with the new member of Brigid Shine's Amy also along for the rollercoaster ride and all the trouble inside.
Inside, yes, because insularity and the closed-minded communality, protectiveness and narrow-mindedness that come with it are prominent in this group and in GROUP!. I've been frequently impressed by how recent musicals have sought to reflect upon and challenge insularity in every way, working to understand frames of mind while featuring determined encouragement that people spread their wings and explore "new" ways of thinking and living, if not physically then mentally. Like "travelling without moving", and, referencing Jamiroquai's identically titled third album, cosmic creations with aspects of virtual insanity where people simply strive to feel alright. GROUP! feels very much like one of those creations.
The central ensemble of 'GROUP!'. Production Photo: Neil Harrison
Is GROUP!, in its musical numbers, its storytelling and its character arcs, about therapy, reality or politics? It could actually be a mixture of the three. Barbara's description of the unit as "a boy band, only run by the council" is hilarious but also rings true, because this isn't a set up defined by strong bonding. What it does define it is how attempts at presentable shielding fall away for sometimes brutal, sometimes traumatising but always vital honesty and clarity, a bold direction that keeps the characters on the edge and the audience fully attentive.
It is, you could say, a war of the words, where the temperament of each character hops around as often as the genres in show tunes which echo the tones of John Kander, Fred Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, swing, cabaret, vaudeville or Disney. With the assistance of Paula O'Reilly's imaginatively lively choreography, Gavin Peden's ingenious video design, a live band and so much more, Mitchell and the company create a cascade of memorable moodiness where the energy and emotion is extraordinarily unleashed. It is perhaps best defined, however, by a jaw-dropping visual where chairs of all shapes and sizes, positioned at different angles, descend from the ceiling of the stage, supported and suspended at various places in mid-air by wires. In that, the intentional instability of GROUP! finds perhaps its most absolute meaning, with the chairs on the stage - the chairs on which the characters sit or even stand during their therapy - acting as a form of control, a form of coming together, even a form of... calm. The calm which is so often desired yet so hard to find, the summation of an epic journey not only for GROUP!'s group but for every single one of us.
Simon Fallaha
GROUP!, a Belfast Ensemble production in association with Belfast's Lyric Theatre, runs at the Lyric's Main Stage until Saturday April 4. For more information, and tickets, click here.