Reviewed by Robbie Dinwoodie of NUJ

Last night a sixth successive sell-out audience in Glasgow applauded a play rooted in events in Dublin a century ago but containing a very modern take on how rebellious instincts would be channeled in the 21st Century. I’ve not blogged in a wee while as I have worked on a book contribution, but I broke off to see Rebellion, a play by my friend Phil Mac Giolla Bhain. It was performed in the eaves of a night club by Sweet for Addicts, a not-for-profit theatre company but no-one would mistake their production for amateur dramatics.

Directed by SfA founder member Mark Williamson it skilfully meshed the strands of events in Dublin in 1916 with modern day issues around power, control, feminism, bigotry, class and cyber-subversion.

Elements which appealed to these Glasgow audiences, particularly the Rangers-supporting character who is the butt of many jokes, may not travel far beyond Scotland or Belfast, but the core of the story could be re-told in, say, London’s Kilburn or anywhere in the wider Irish diaspora.

Taryam Boyd plays both Tom Murphy, a young participant in 1916 seen mainly as a prisoner of war in the Frongoch “University of Revolution” camp in Wales where Michael Collins was held, and his great-great grandson in modern day Scotland, John Brown. This bright youngster not only uses his computer skills to peel back the layers of his maternal family history, he is secretly working as part of a hacking group to unmask the misdeeds of powerful figures; a corrupt politician, a child-abusing human rights writer, and ultimately the Prime Minister who took his country to war based on a lie.

I was privileged to see Rebellion, which deserves a wider audience as a movie or television adaptation. It may be rooted in 1916 but the issues raised are timeless.

Part of the Glasgow St Patrick`s Festival 2016

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