NI Playwright Shifts Focus

Northern Irish screenwriter and playwright Darragh Carville was interviewed in The Guardian yesterday about his forthcoming play, This Other City.

He believes that it is time for Northern Irish writers to tackle new stories about the post-Troubles Northern Ireland.

"It seemed to me that the stories of the new Northern Ireland were not being told," he said. "I just thought that the world of the new city, of swanky apartment blocks, of coffee shops and the new culture was not being reflected in terms of theatre and film. I was writing a play about two years ago and suddenly realised I was writing a Northern Ireland of the past, a drama about the Troubles' aftermath. I said, 'Hold on - I've written this before.'

"It's unquestionable that the place, especially Belfast, has changed massively. No one is saying the Troubles have completely disappeared - recent events have underlined that - but this society is being reborn. These glass towers looming over the skyline symbolise how it has changed fundamentally."

Carville later clarified that he doesn't believe drama focused on the Troubles is redundant: "It would be wrong as a culture to repress what happened in the past and pretend it never existed, but there is room for other stories."