SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
The Body Of Bobby
Photo courtesy of the Millennium Forum
Gary Breslin's The Body Of Bobby, directed by Kieran Griffiths and staged at Derry-Londonderry's Millennium Forum during the run I attend, is the art of survival, agency and antifragility as a courageous, sharp and funny coming-of-age period piece. A more than merely worthy recipient of the inaugural Paul Diamond New Writers Award, this is a show that bonds its viewers, its cast and its characters musically, humorously, realistically and reflectively, a piece where every element truly gets under the skin and remains there. It's a marvellous companion to Griffiths' profoundly moving masterpieces Beyond Belief: The Life And Mission Of John Hume and The White Handkerchief, but, in toning down the epic sweep and larger-than-life emotional prominence for something more intimate and insular, finds other ways to excel and endure.
Thought is primarily provoked, and emotions mainly emerge, from how the actors at the centre of the show express themselves. The extremely talented quartet of Conan Hamilton, Aidan McLaughlin, Patrick Gill and Lauren Mary Campbell play Conor, Patsy, "Jitters" and Fiona respectively, four fourteen-year-olds keen to make a difference in the Maiden City of 1981. Although the "lads" in the group aren't initially too keen on the maiden from their city getting involved, they do soften their stance. There is also the matter of Conor's lonely mother Marie, played beautifully by Nicole Sweeney-Kelly, speaking to the photo of her late husband Brendan and most likely hearing her conscience, her perception of what he would say, or his ghost, who appears in the form of another commanding performance from The White Handkerchief's own Warren McCook.
Photo courtesy of the Millennium Forum
The production values are first rate. Amy Carroll's costumes, John O'Kane's set design and Rory Harkin's lighting stunningly recreate the appropriate detail and mood of the period and location on the Forum stage, with footage of the past both projected and contained either in the backdrop of the high, strikingly cagey boundaries or on the small TV set and battered radio that lie within. With this radio, the value of Marie's wisdom and the periodically intrusive sustenance of her pot of soup, Conor and the children pay tribute to the then recent passing of the Bobby of the title, Bobby Sands, by attempting their own hunger strike. The consequences are both chaotic and unexpected, much to the clear surprise and repeated amusement of the audience.
I say "surprise" because it is a risk, of course, for The Body Of Bobby to address such a serious matter in such a comedic way. But it really does pay enormous dividends. Because it can't be said often enough that if you don't laugh, you'll cry. And laughter is certainly the best medicine for not only children at a very challenging and difficult age, but for a mother at an equally challenging and difficult time. Breslin and Griffiths have, to me, found a new way to face the question surrounding the threat to the enclosure one creates for themselves at a very young age - that being, whether or not our parents or adult mentors can or should do more to protect us from growing up so soon.
Here, it works two ways. From not just observing but also engaging with the ingenuity and naïveté of the next generation, Marie, and we, find that there are times when they are perhaps more knowledgeable than we are. Yet even Roald Dahl's Matilda showed that for all her brain power, her insight into adult behaviour was limited – it's apparent that our Matildas need their Miss Honeys as much as our Miss Honeys need their Matildas, in a narrative where experience from adulthood is passed to the rawness from youth and then inspiration is passed back to the former, for confrontation of fears at all ages. That's what The Body Of Bobby is – a reinvention, perhaps even a rebirth, of bravery and initiative through and for universal eyes at a time when it seems either most difficult or probably impossible. Inspiration that doesn't belong solely to Marie and the children, but also to us.
Simon Fallaha
The Body Of Bobby concludes its run at Derry-Londonderry's Millennium Forum on Saturday October 10. For more information click here.