RUAIRI Conaghan admits he thought twice before taking up the role of an IRA bomber in a production due to be staged in the town devastated by a blast caused by his character.
He is also “not looking for wonderful reviews” nor “a five-star West End transfer” for the piece, he told The Irish Post this week.
But he is adamant that the “genuinely controversial” play The Bombing of The Grand Hotel, for which he is currently in rehearsals, is one that needs to be seen and comes “at the right time”.
“It’s a great story and at the moment stories about the conflict in Northern Ireland — the good ones anyway — should be about these kind of issues — the issues of truth, reconciliation and the next stage of how we heal,” said Conaghan.
Written by Brighton-based duo Josie Melia and Julie Everton, the play tackles the IRA’s Brighton bombing of 1984, while focusing on the unlikely friendship since forged between the man responsible, Patrick Magee, and Jo Berry, whose father was killed in the blast.
“It’s a very compelling tale,” Conaghan, who witnessed the full force of the Troubles while growing up in south Derry, adds.
Actor Ruairi Conaghan was born in the North of IrelandBut taking on the role of an IRA bomber, who is still living, for a production which will be shown in both London and Brighton this spring, has been one of the most challenging of his lengthy career, the actor admits. “I enjoy a challenging role, completely, it’s what we do it for,” he said, “but this is a new and a fresh one and it could be the toughest one yet.
“It wasn’t an easy role to rush into but I definitely think this is the right story to be telling at this time.”
“It’s being done by the right people in the right places and that’s a very positive thing, which I am very proud to be involved in. But I do think it’s extraordinary that we are going to be playing it in Brighton, which I am sure will be a very charged set of evenings.”
As rehearsals come to a close this month — the production opens in London on April 13, before moving on to Brighton in May — Conaghan will be making the final touches to his take on the controversial Magee character.
“As a first-generation Northern Irishman I came at this character firstly by stepping away from it and looking at this as just an acting part,” he explained, “but as we progressed I had to look at it in depth. It’s a play about a man who killed people, so there is a place you have to go, but it’s important to tell this story and they had to cast someone as Patrick Magee.”
In rehearsals for the upcoming play The Bombing of The Grand HotelHe added: “As I was born in 1966 in Magherafelt I grew up during that whole process in terms of the 1970s and ’80s, so I do have a kind of understanding of the madness and insanity of it all… the context.”
Regarding hopes for opening night, the London-based actor, who lives in Crystal Palace with his wife and their eight-year-old son Sé, is honest about his expectations.
“I am not going out with this production looking for wonderful reviews and five stars and getting a transfer to the West End,” he admits.
“This is a genuinely controversial play, it’s contentious and it’s challenging and people will have a reaction to it. It may be positive or it may be negative but what’s important is that we as artists, and the writers and directors, are approaching this with great truth and are trying to do a good thing.”
The Bombing of The Grand Hotel will debut at The Cockpit Theatre in London from April 13 to May 2. It will run at The Warren pop-up theatre venue in Brighton on May 6, 7 and 9, during the Brighton Fringe Festival. For tickets or further information visit www.wildsparktheatre.com or www.thecockpit.org.uk
