When Ruairi Conaghan was just eight years old, his uncle was shot dead on his doorstep in Northern Ireland by the IRA, whilst his nine year old daughter held his hand and begged for him to live. The gunman had disguised himself as a postman and killed one of the first Catholic judges during a campaign that would continue for another 20 years. Conaghan gives a gripping account of that day and the years that followed.
Conaghan grows up to become an actor and is offered the role of Patrick Magee in a play about the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing. Magee was an IRA member who planted the bombs with intent to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and her government, but instead killed five people and injured thirty. Conaghan delivers a raw re-telling of his first time meeting Magee, as he becomes frustrated about all the things he wishes he had said in the moment but refrained.
As years go on, Conaghan stars in extravagant production of ‘Hamlet’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in which Conaghan plays the Player King. Conaghan reveals that a speech told by the Player King about the assassination of King Priam to Prince Hamlet unearths old traumatic memories of his uncle’s death. Soon, Conaghan’s health starts to deteriorate as a result of unresolved trauma as he’s forced take a short leave before coming back to give a powerful run of performances.
Conaghan’s brave story of overcoming his past experiences and turning it into art is commendable. His inextricable link to the story makes every emotion come to the surface, as you watch the man who has experienced these horrors recount it before your very eyes, making it an experience that will stay with you.
Lies Where It Falls, C ARTS – Studio, 14:30, until August 25
