This week I went home… and took the rest of Roughshod with me.
One of the privileges of working as a Shoddie is the chance to share life with so many different communities, but there was something special (at least for me) about taking the vital Roughshod work to Northern Ireland.
After a brilliant week in Scotland, we found ourselves in the North West of Ireland and immediately experienced the hospitality of the people (a selection of four desserts at one dinner time is how you do it). We had the opportunity to work in one of the local schools, providing workshops and performances to young people throughout the whole school. The responses were overwhelming, with one student commenting that our modern-day adaptations of bible stories helped them truly ‘get it’ for the first time.
Afterwards, we moved across country to Holywood – a little town on the outskirts of Belfast – and found ourselves doing work in all manner of venues. Whether performing in churches, prisons, schools, and for the first time in this tour – on the street, we had the chance to see the vastness of the work we do, and were warmly received by all!
Although, I hasten to add that this week wasn’t all work. I had the chance to take the rest of the Shoddies to see the sites (Giants Causeway anyone?) and even introduced them to the delights of an Ulster Fry.
In all this – whether performing hard-hitting drama to young offenders, or witnessing primary school children spontaneously clapping along to ‘Amazing Grace’ – I felt truly blessed, and privileged, to perform theatre full of ‘faith, hope and everything inbetween’ in the places, and to the people, close to my heart.
Andrew
Keep Up To Date