In the past week, a number of developments, both positive and negative, have occurred in the development of the Belfast Mystery Plays project. On the positive side, we have recruited (with much appreciated assistance) a number of volunteers from the School of Drama at Queen's University, Belfast, to fill the fascinating and challenging roles of our Biblical protagonists. These volunteers will be auditioned this coming week (a novel experience for most of us on the organising team) after which we will begin rehearsing. On the negative side, the time-restrictions of the academic year have meant that, for this year at least, we have had to scale down our plans - thus we will be performing less material than we had previously hoped, and will not be able to mount each play in site-specific Belfast locations. However, we have now decided to save our original, ambitious plans for next year, in order to do the material and all involved the justice it deserves. This year's performance, then, will hopefully be something of a prelude, allowing us to identify problems and plus-points for next year. Nevertheless, this year's performance will still be (fingers-crossed) an accomplished and entertaining experience with a great cast and soundtrack. Watch this space.
Eamon
