NEW WRITING TAKES CENTRE STAGE AT THE LYRIC

With Amanda Verlaque’s This Sh*t Happens All The Time (22 Mar-2 Apr). A Lyric production, in association with Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics, This Sh*t Happens All The Time is a deeply personal autobiographical monologue about homophobic hate crime.

A young woman (played by Caoimhe Farren) falls in love. Her girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend responds with murderous intent. In 2022 he'd be arrested but in Belfast 1992 homophobic hate crime law doesn’t exist. This Sh*t Happens All the Time is a powerful new one-woman directed by Rhiann Jeffrey, which uses personal experience to explore misogyny, coercive control, and queer-baiting to ask why the privileges and protections granted to most of society remain disgracefully out of reach for Northern Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community.

Jimmy Fay, Executive producer, Lyric Theatre said:

“ The Lyric’s mission is to create, entertain and inspire, we are committed to delivering quality theatre from exceptional artists and especially new writing. We are very proud to produce Amanda Verlaque’s This Shit Happens All The Time in association with Imagine! Belfast Festival. Directed by Rhiann Jeffrey and starring Caoimhe Farren, this courageous new play provides audiences with an emotional rollercoaster journey through a love story that challenges and confronts us with our own accountability in defending the vulnerable against the forces of hate.”

Peter O’Neill, Festival Director Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics, commented:

“The Imagine! Belfast Festival is delighted to produce this exciting new production in conjunction with the Lyric. As a supporter of new writing, particularly on diversity issues, we hope that this play will highlight issues surrounding the widespread incidence of LGBTQ+ bullying and abuse. Our festival is all about challenging and entertaining our audiences on the big issues of our times and we are pleased to be able to support the dynamic talents of Amanda Verlaque, Rhiann Jeffrey and Caoimhe Farren in this gripping new play.”

Caoileann Curry-Thompson, Acting Head of Drama and Dance of ACNI, added:

“Amanda Verlaque is an immense talent, whom the Arts Council of Northern Ireland has been honoured to support in recent years; likewise Rhiann Jeffrey, a unique force in theatre directing. This Sh*t Happens All the Time is a highlight of Belfast theatre this season. The content and scope of the play is so important, drawing on the lived experience of getting on with life in Northern Ireland as a gay person during the 1990s through to today. We all have much to learn from this work and by being confronted with the uncomfortable truths about our society – past and present – and our individual roles within it. I can’t wait for the show, and would encourage people to get along to see it.”

The Lyric Theatre is supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland National Lottery funding and Belfast City Council.

This Sh*it Happens All the Time will be staged at Naughton Studio 22 Mar-2 Apr. Tickets start from £12. For details visit https://lyrictheatre.co.uk/whats-on/this-sh-t-happens-all-the-time.

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