:00:35. > :00:43.covering the best arts and culture in Northern Ireland. As usual, we
:00:43. > :00:48.have a packed show for you. This is what is coming up: Richard Dormer is
:00:48. > :00:54.best-known for playing Terri Hooley in Good Vibrations and Alex Higgins
:00:54. > :00:59.in Hurricane. Drum Belly is running at Abbey Theatre to rave reviews. I
:00:59. > :01:07.met him for a chat. The Billy Plays remain one of the most powerful
:01:07. > :01:13.drama series set and filmed during the Troubles. The story is revisited
:01:13. > :01:18.for a fifth instalment, Love, Billy, which premieres next week. The Arts
:01:18. > :01:20.Show went behind-the-scenes. Celebrating ten years of the
:01:20. > :01:25.Festival of Fools, which returns to Belfast next week, we have a
:01:25. > :01:31.performance with a difference. Now, if you have been to the new
:01:31. > :01:34.Lyric Theatre you can't have escaped the large-scale portraits of some of
:01:34. > :01:38.our leading cultural figures, including Brian Friel, Adrian
:01:38. > :01:42.Dunbar, Ciaran Hinds and Basil Blackshaw. They are the work of
:01:42. > :01:48.Colin Davidson, who has just completed his latest piece, Seamus
:01:48. > :01:56.Heaney. Colin allowed The Arts Show cameras into his Crawfordsburn
:01:56. > :02:06.studio to capture a personal process.
:02:06. > :02:15.We have no prayerries to slice -- prairies to slice a big sun in the
:02:15. > :02:20.evening... There is an awareness of the greatness of the man. His road
:02:20. > :02:29.into the cyclops eye... That is the scary bit. Do I want the
:02:29. > :02:36.responsibility? Our unfenced country is bog, that keeps crusting between
:02:36. > :02:40.the sights of the sun. The whole process at the drawing stage is very
:02:40. > :02:46.much about the process of recording and if you are fortunate in the
:02:46. > :02:56.final painting, or in some of the drawings, this extra spark comes
:02:56. > :03:02.through. It surprises me. It is not something that I'm in control of. I
:03:03. > :03:12.spent a few hours with Seamus and made probably about 15 reasonable
:03:13. > :03:14.
:03:14. > :03:17.drawings. They have taken the skeleton of the great Irish elk...
:03:17. > :03:24.The moment between the words are often the most interesting to look
:03:24. > :03:28.at. When ever somebody is talking to you, they are in the here and now.
:03:28. > :03:33.When ever they are thinking about what to say, they are in the past,
:03:33. > :03:41.they are in the future. Those are the moments that I'm looking forward
:03:41. > :03:46.to paint. Butter sunk under more than a hundred years was recovered
:03:46. > :03:52.lls the discipline of making drawings in the studio before the
:03:52. > :03:59.painting, it builds the familiarity with the subject. It helps form in
:03:59. > :04:07.my mind the moment I'm looking for and I often combine quite a number
:04:07. > :04:13.of drawings and look at the likeness from that point of view. It is not a
:04:13. > :04:20.case of coming into the studio and starting the painting. Painting, I
:04:20. > :04:23.think, is probably the most natural thing I could think of doing. But on
:04:23. > :04:29.the other hand, it's the most challenging thing I can possibly
:04:29. > :04:37.think of doing as well. This series that I'm on now - and I have been
:04:38. > :04:44.working on for three years - was never started as a potential theme.
:04:44. > :04:50.I had asked if he would sit for me. There is something about his look
:04:50. > :04:54.that made me just want to paint him. I won a few awards with it and,
:04:54. > :05:02.suddenly, I was getting more attention for that one painting than
:05:03. > :05:12.anything I had done before. There's about 28, 30 paintings that I have
:05:13. > :05:15.
:05:15. > :05:19.completed. The ground itself is kind, black butter, melting and
:05:19. > :05:28.opening under foot... I didn't learn this from anywhere. I just do it.
:05:28. > :05:36.With making a painting of a head this size, it is not a classical
:05:36. > :05:42.portrait, as such. Carving into the wet paint here. These will leave
:05:42. > :05:49.marks of their own. You become very aware of the face as a kind of a
:05:49. > :05:54.landscape, where there's maybe bits of rock sticking out and there's a
:05:54. > :06:00.topographical aspect to it. In some ways, you are carving the thing out.
:06:00. > :06:09.You are teasing it out from the background. With Seamus Heaney, in
:06:09. > :06:15.particular, his work is part of the landscape. There's a winland colour
:06:15. > :06:23.to the background and he is emerging through it, as much of his work
:06:24. > :06:30.does. They will never dig gold here, only the waterlogged trunks of great
:06:30. > :06:36.firs... I'm bringing absolutely everything I have learnt to them.
:06:36. > :06:42.The thicker, more sculptural paint that I used in the Belfast paintings
:06:42. > :06:48.ten years back, then there's the excuse to use the thinner, more
:06:48. > :06:52.blended paint of the window reflections paintings in the eyes
:06:52. > :06:59.and in the background. Employ the blending techniques that I love as
:06:59. > :07:02.well. And to bring them altogether in one painting. I think I have
:07:02. > :07:09.happened upon a subject particularly of this scale that allows me to do
:07:09. > :07:16.that. Yeah, I just spend so much more time. There's tension in the
:07:16. > :07:22.painting. There's a lot of the means of identifying with a person. I love
:07:22. > :07:28.the means of recognising a person and communicating with them. You get
:07:28. > :07:35.to know the person through their eyes. I suppose it's all of those
:07:35. > :07:43.things that make me just want to spend most time on that. I think the
:07:43. > :07:49.whole way through this painting, there is always something of the man
:07:49. > :07:57.that has come through it. Our pioneers keep striking inwards and
:07:57. > :08:07.downwards. Every layer they strip seems camped down before. The bog
:08:07. > :08:14.holes might be Atlantic seepage. The wet centre is butterness. I am
:08:14. > :08:21.constantly on this quest to learn something new from each new painting
:08:21. > :08:27.that I do. I need to have one of those little lessons learnt, one of
:08:27. > :08:34.those little surprises to bring on to the next piece. I just love the
:08:34. > :08:42.excuse to absorb as much as I can that the painting just gives me
:08:42. > :08:46.that. I might be able to improve on this, but, equally, in the quest to
:08:46. > :08:52.improve it, I might ruin the entire thing. So it is when ever that
:08:52. > :08:57.balance just tips and you go, quted right, now is the time to leave the
:08:57. > :09:02.thing alone." What an amazing piece. I can't wait to see it up close.
:09:03. > :09:07.Now, local actor and writer Richard Dormer honed his craft over the past
:09:07. > :09:12.20 years, mainly in the theatre, becoming best-known for playing Alex
:09:12. > :09:16.Higgins in Hurricane. His latest authored play, Drum Belly is running
:09:16. > :09:23.to public and critical acclaim in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He is
:09:23. > :09:33.becoming known to a wider audience with roles in game of thrones and as
:09:33. > :09:34.
:09:34. > :09:40.Terri Hooley in the movie Good Vibrations. The scene of Terri's
:09:40. > :09:45.epiphany, we filmed that in here. That was a kicking night. It was
:09:45. > :09:54.just exhausting. Getting into the part of Terri as well was
:09:54. > :10:01.exhausting, too? Yes. I run a record shop. Big time! I want that in my
:10:01. > :10:09.show. As soon as I put the lens in, the fake eye, I couldn't see out of
:10:09. > :10:18.the eye. What I start to do was lead with my shoulder and then I
:10:18. > :10:23.realised, "That's what Terri does!" I think, ultimately, it's just
:10:23. > :10:27.that... You have got it!Mad intensity. You are already
:10:27. > :10:32.channelling him again. It is that kind of, that energy, you know. It
:10:32. > :10:36.is not like theatre. You have to get it at that moment. If you don't get
:10:36. > :10:44.it, for the rest of your life you will be kicking yourself. There was
:10:44. > :10:49.also big pressure on you, other names were being mentioned. Did that
:10:49. > :10:56.put you under pressure? When I got the call, you have got the part,
:10:56. > :11:05.thought, "I cannot deserve it." I have been doing this 20 years. I
:11:05. > :11:10.knew I could do it. It is not a label. It's a way of life! Richard
:11:10. > :11:17.grew up in Lisburn and began acting at school? My old school teacher had
:11:17. > :11:24.a drama class and my friends had said, "Come along." They were doing
:11:24. > :11:28.it. I said, "Maybe, it is not really for me." I started walking home and
:11:28. > :11:36.it started to pour with torrential rain. I thought, "It is closer to
:11:36. > :11:46.school than it is home so I'll go along to this thing." The play that
:11:46. > :11:47.
:11:47. > :11:52.they were planning to do was - I was cast as Jack Clitheroe. People were
:11:52. > :12:01.looking at me. I don't feel nervous. They are listening to me. I think I
:12:01. > :12:05.could do this, you know. Within a year, I had got into RADA. It
:12:05. > :12:09.happened really fast. After graduating, Richard began to carve
:12:09. > :12:14.out a name for himself in stage acting, but he claimed his place in
:12:14. > :12:21.the upper ranks of the theatre world by writing a one man show for
:12:21. > :12:25.himself about a Northern Ireland legend. I'm a self-made man. I rose
:12:25. > :12:35.from the back-streets of Belfast and made my mark in the world and I did
:12:35. > :12:35.
:12:35. > :12:45.it on my own. I'm a two-times World Champion. I'm at the top of my game,
:12:45. > :12:50.looking down. How did that come about? Well, I saw a photograph of
:12:50. > :12:55.Alex at the grave of Oliver Reed. I thought, "I would love to write a
:12:55. > :13:01.film about this guy and I would love to play him." Then I met him in
:13:01. > :13:08.Dublin when I was waiting in the bar. It was just fate, you know. I
:13:08. > :13:17.bought him a pint. And we started talking and... What did he say? Did
:13:17. > :13:21.you go, "Hello, my name is Richard Dormer." ? I said, "I'm an actor and
:13:21. > :13:26.I would like to write about you." He said, "I don't recognise you." I
:13:26. > :13:33.said, "I do mainly theatre." He said, "I don't go to the theatre."
:13:33. > :13:39.For those of you who think I'm washed up and washed out, well I
:13:39. > :13:43.have got news for you, the Hurricane hasn't blown itself out. What did
:13:43. > :13:49.Alex make of your portrayal of him? He really liked it. He was
:13:49. > :13:55.flattered. He came to see you a lot? Yeah, yeah. We became friends. He
:13:55. > :13:59.would jump up there and take a bow. He was re-living the glory days.
:13:59. > :14:07.That is an incredible journey for both of you, to have gone on. Did he
:14:07. > :14:12.teach you anything? What he taught me was fearlessness because to do a
:14:12. > :14:18.one man show for 70 minutes with that level of energy and emotion, it
:14:18. > :14:27.takes balls, you know. I wrote the character but it was his life, his
:14:27. > :14:37.life force. That propelled me. I met Peter Hall through it. That got me
:14:37. > :14:37.
:14:37. > :14:40.one of the things I'm most proud of, playing Lucky. It is one of the true
:14:40. > :14:45.masterpieces of 20th Century theatre and Sir Peter Hall's production
:14:45. > :14:50.marked 50 years since the play was first performed in London. The
:14:50. > :14:57.character Lucky has two lines, one of the lines is 700 words long. Can
:14:57. > :15:07.you remember any of them? I can. It is weird. I do it about once a
:15:07. > :15:13.
:15:13. > :15:23.month, I could be walking through a park and I go, "Given the
:15:23. > :15:26.
:15:26. > :15:33.existence..." And you go... Yes! Because it's a muscle memory. It
:15:33. > :15:37.took three months, at least three months to learn. It's got no
:15:37. > :15:40.punctuation. You are a very physical performer, I have seen you on stage
:15:40. > :15:44.where the sweat is lashing off you and you are swinging from the
:15:44. > :15:50.rafters. Do you enjoy this aspect of your work? There is a calm comes
:15:50. > :15:55.over you in the midst of it all. You are in the eye of the storm. During
:15:55. > :16:02.that Lucky speech, I was literally - I wasn't acting, I was like, "Thank
:16:02. > :16:07.God, I can fall on the floor." You really push yourself as an actor -
:16:07. > :16:12.well, I do. Almost to the point of extinction! If you are not giving
:16:12. > :16:18.everything you have got, then why are you doing it? Richard had become
:16:18. > :16:23.an acclaimed actor on stage. Now, he wanted to be on-screen. As long as
:16:23. > :16:28.you understand, because actions have consequences. That is the just the
:16:28. > :16:34.law of nature. When I turned 40, I thought I had better get a move on
:16:34. > :16:38.here. I stopped doing theatre. It all started to happen. I think
:16:38. > :16:43.Hidden was the beginning of it. you watch other actors of your age
:16:43. > :16:48.getting the big roles? I did. It was getting to me. I was thinking people
:16:48. > :16:57.were looking at me and were going, "God love him, he never made it."
:16:57. > :17:02.Now, Game of Thrones is taking Richard to a worldwide audience.
:17:02. > :17:07.big fight is epic. It is a flaming sword, it is incredible. I can't
:17:07. > :17:12.wait for people to see it. Despite his success in film and television,
:17:12. > :17:18.theatre will surely always call Richard back. His latest play Drum
:17:18. > :17:24.Belly is on the Main Stage at the Abbey in Dublin, the story of the
:17:24. > :17:30.Irish Mafia in New York marks a major step forward. I'm actually was
:17:30. > :17:34.sitting in rehearsals listening to it and going, "Did I write this?" I
:17:34. > :17:38.don't know where it came from. That is a great thing. It means it is
:17:38. > :17:48.coming from my sub conscious. Finally, I have found my voice.
:17:48. > :17:56.
:17:56. > :18:01.has been a pleasure, thank you so much for your time. Thank you.
:18:01. > :18:06.Playwright Graham Reid wrote the Billy Plays in the early 1980s. It
:18:06. > :18:09.saw Kenneth Branagh in the role that launched his career. Reid has now
:18:09. > :18:14.written a fifth unstallment, this time for the stage. Love, Billy
:18:14. > :18:23.premieres on Wednesday with Joe McGann replacing Branagh in the lead
:18:23. > :18:30.road. The Arts Show was invited to rehearse ales. We are going to read
:18:30. > :18:35.Billy. Has he gone again? He is here! I'm hoping beyond hope that
:18:35. > :18:37.the audience will not try and look at this play and start comparing the
:18:37. > :18:42.characters that they see with those that they remember in the
:18:42. > :18:48.television. That would be wrong. People change. Or especially over 25
:18:48. > :18:52.years, you know. Billy Martin? I have heard of you. Everybody around
:18:52. > :19:02.here has heard of you. You are a hard man. You and your dad. My dad
:19:02. > :19:08.says he was the hardest man in Belfast. Norman has had a stroke. It
:19:08. > :19:14.was his 73 Rd birthday. Because the girls fear he may never reach 74,
:19:14. > :19:18.they want to have a last family get together. Worrying about you.
:19:18. > :19:22.back is a big thing for Billy. He is fearful of the reception he will
:19:22. > :19:26.receive because he knows he's neglected the family. Billy has been
:19:26. > :19:36.in the house, hasn't seen Billy for 25 years. Nobody knows what is going
:19:36. > :19:46.to happen. Take it from your line, Joe. Dad, it's good to see you.
:19:46. > :19:55.
:19:55. > :20:00.You have lived amongst the English for too long! Have you been living
:20:00. > :20:07.somewhere they -- where they don't speak bloody English? Maureen and
:20:07. > :20:11.Lorna, Billy, Norman, Mavis, they are all in my head, the people who
:20:11. > :20:21.were there 25 years ago. Tell them to listen to me. I'm trying to talk
:20:21. > :20:23.
:20:23. > :20:28.to him! You are 16 years too late. Let him speak! Billy, the kids have
:20:28. > :20:32.had enough for one night! That was one of my worries. I went over twice
:20:32. > :20:36.to Belfast and we did a lot of auditions, we auditioned a lot of
:20:36. > :20:40.people. What pleased me greatly - I'm out of touch with the local
:20:40. > :20:46.scene in Northern Ireland - is there is a wealth of talent there. We were
:20:46. > :20:51.spoilt for choice. We could have cast some of these parts three or
:20:51. > :20:59.four times. Do you think I've nothing better to do than sit around
:20:59. > :21:03.all bloody day and wait for him? Calm down, dad! Any actor who read
:21:03. > :21:08.the play, who had never seen it, you would want to do it. It is an
:21:08. > :21:14.actor's play. Sorry, everybody, for today, for being late. In the world
:21:14. > :21:19.that I know of, these are the first position characters for me. I'm not
:21:19. > :21:27.thinking about playing, "You would have been Brian." This is the cast
:21:27. > :21:37.one as far as I'm concerned. Calm down, dad! Calm down?Give him a
:21:37. > :21:42.
:21:43. > :21:47.chance. I'm Tracey. I'm playing Ann. You are not and that's final.
:21:47. > :21:50.well, the way Graham has written the character, it is the way I would
:21:51. > :21:55.have envisaged her life would have turned out, you know. You listening
:21:55. > :22:03.to what I'm saying to you? Nobody saw me. The character is still the
:22:03. > :22:13.same type of person, maybe a bit sadder and louder. But, you know,
:22:13. > :22:14.
:22:14. > :22:19.she's had a fair old life. When I play Martin, I hear Jimmy. Everybody
:22:19. > :22:24.is getting on me... I've done a lot of Graham Reid plays over the years
:22:24. > :22:30.and this is strong. I come down out of my sick bed to hear what you have
:22:30. > :22:33.to say. Now let me hear it. He is a tough act to get away from and to
:22:33. > :22:38.find your own identity and your own character within the play. But
:22:38. > :22:43.that's what I have to do. And I think we are starting to shape up,
:22:43. > :22:50.you know. Dad, will you do what Mavis says? We will talk tomorrow.
:22:50. > :22:56.You promise me? I think the play stands on its own. It is a story of
:22:56. > :23:01.deep, deep family emotions and drama. Say something. What is the
:23:02. > :23:07.point? You can choose your friends, but your family you are stuck with.
:23:07. > :23:12.I think it's an instructive piece in how to try and negotiate swamps of
:23:12. > :23:17.family life. Tell us why you left and why you have stayed away for so
:23:17. > :23:25.long? He does have a hand grenade which he pulls the pin on. I'm not
:23:25. > :23:31.going to tell you what it is. He lets something out. What a surprise!
:23:31. > :23:36.Billy has come back and he's got a few skeletons in the closet that
:23:36. > :23:42.creep out. I think this is the best, dialogue best, the best storyline.
:23:42. > :23:51.To hell with the other Billies. This is great. Love, Billy runs from 1s t
:23:51. > :23:57.to 25th May. I'm joined by Dr Mark Phelan from Queens University, who
:23:57. > :24:01.teaches drama. You are very welcome to the programme. Thank you.We have
:24:01. > :24:05.seen some examples of local theatre. It would appear that Northern Irish
:24:05. > :24:11.theatre is in very good health? is. The great story of the last
:24:11. > :24:19.couple of years is the enormous capital investment in buildings, in
:24:19. > :24:22.the new Lyric and the refurbished Crescent, and other venues in
:24:22. > :24:29.Belfast. You can have a great building but if nobody is coming to
:24:29. > :24:33.see the play, what is the point of putting it on? We don't seem to have
:24:33. > :24:38.the same dynamic, vibrant tradition of theatre going and support for the
:24:38. > :24:43.arts. A lot of it is to do with a suspicion or scepticism at what are
:24:43. > :24:47.the arts for. That is a spurious question. The arts are crucial to
:24:47. > :24:53.how we interrogate the past and how we imagine the future. Who is
:24:53. > :24:58.looking after young actors? Good question. I think young actors have
:24:58. > :25:03.enormous pressures placed upon them. To be an actor is an unglamorous,
:25:03. > :25:07.difficult, financially powerless and precarious job. The finest
:25:07. > :25:11.pound-for-pound actor of his generation, Richard Dormer, at last
:25:11. > :25:17.in a leading role on a film. It's been a long time in the making. How
:25:17. > :25:22.many actors fall through the cracks and never make it? Most of them.
:25:22. > :25:27.What about a rep theatre, that was employing actors on a regular basis
:25:27. > :25:31.and within that, they get training? They become a place of excellence
:25:31. > :25:35.and that excellence is recognised? think a rep is a wonderful idea in
:25:36. > :25:39.principle. In practice, it would be great for those in the rep. What
:25:39. > :25:46.about the other actors on the outside? What about the young actors
:25:46. > :25:53.coming through? It is fascinating watching Prime Cut and the Lyric and
:25:53. > :25:56.seeing many of our own graduates occupying the stages at these
:25:56. > :26:01.theatre companies. What is the endgame for it? Where would you like
:26:01. > :26:06.to see it going? For the future, the best thing to wish for would be the
:26:06. > :26:10.levels of public funding which have been invested into bricks and
:26:10. > :26:14.mortar, being invested into the most important constituent of the arts
:26:14. > :26:18.scene, our actors, writers and producers. They are the most
:26:18. > :26:22.important asset that we need to support. Otherwise, we will have
:26:22. > :26:26.these wonderful buildings but they will be empty. Thank you very much.
:26:26. > :26:33.That is almost it for tonight. The Arts Show will be back on 23 Rd May.
:26:33. > :26:35.Until then, you can keep up-to-date on BBC Radio Ulster's Arts Extra.
:26:35. > :26:38.And you can continue the conversation on our Twitter account
:26:38. > :26:43.straight after the show. We leave you with something a little