Lyric Theatre, Belfast
**
Hip-hop, rap, street dance, the Troubles, the Iraq War, Afghanistan, the Arab spring . . . a strange brew indeed. But those familiar with the work of Smashing Times have come to expect a strategy of connecting with young people, mixing genres and breaking down barriers between performance styles. The well-intentioned aim of its Memory Project is the use of theatre and a television documentary to deal with past conflict and to promote a peaceful and shared future for all. Flags, parades and the past remain pressing and relevant political issues in the North, particularly when filtered through the consciousness of a generation born after the Good Friday Agreement, who are largely oblivious to the detail of the atrocities of the previous three decades.
There has been much talk in recent times about shared space, particularly in inner-city interface areas. In a derelict warehouse, DJ Shane (Mark Flynn) is trying to create a venue where young people from all backgrounds can congregate in a collective celebration of music and dance. But his friend – an Irish-dancing loyalist called Colette (Evelyn Shaw) – is more interested in fighting the good fight for the Union flag and her threatened Protestant culture. Enter three ghosts from the past, who lead the two youngsters on a scamper through history, taking in the 1979 Narrow Water bombs, the plight of the Disappeared, Remembrance Day 1987 in Enniskillen, Orange marches, RUC and army violence – you name it.
Under Mary Moynihan's direction, Tara McKevitt's script skips swiftly and superficially over these iconic events, allowing scant space for examination of cause or effect. Suddenly, the action heads across the Atlantic to George W Bush's military campaigns. Step forward anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan. Then it's on to Pakistan and 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, shot by Taliban gunmen. Then to a suicide bomber in the Middle East. Finally, it returns to Belfast and a resolution of sorts via a rap version of The Sash. Along the way, these harrowing tragedies are narrated with some seriously dodgy accents against a background of hip-hop styled choreography and cranked-up music. It's not a comfortable fit.
