John Boyd
The present.
The Catholic working-class Donellan family live in a block of flats in 1969 Belfast, which is being patrolled by the British army. The women of the family are anti-violence, but the men seek to actively defend the home and family, describing the struggle of life as being that of privilege versus underprivilege, rather than motivated by religious difference. With tension rising in the area, an angry Protestant crowd begins to march on the flats; meanwhile, a neighbour of the Donellans, and one of the last remaining Protestants in the flats, runs into the street to get help for her ailing mother. Tragedy results, and the play ends with death and mourning.
Drámaí Ginearálta
Dráma Fada
8
3
11
15 March 1971
Produced by Lyric Theatre
Lyric Theatre
Collected Plays 1: The Flats ; The Farm ; Guests.
1981
Blackstaff Press
Blackstaff House, Wildflower Way, Apollo RoadBelfast BT12 6TANorthern Ireland
+ 44 (0)28 9066 8074
info@blackstaffpress.com
www.blackstaffpress.com
All Territories
All Rights
Gavin Boyd
1 The GranaryBallygowanDown BT23 5FHNorthern Ireland
Information for this entry was taken from the published script, and from the original production programme and press cuttings held at the Theatre and Performing Arts Archive of the Linen Hall Library, Belfast.