0:00:06 > 0:00:08For more than half a century,
0:00:08 > 0:00:11the BBC have captured the changing face of everyday life
0:00:11 > 0:00:13in Northern Ireland.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18It all seems so innocent today, but without these moments,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21something of who we are now would be lost forever.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27These are the archives, and those were the days.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31I quite enjoy looking back at those old films.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I think sometimes now we try to be too clever,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and that just actually telling the story
0:00:37 > 0:00:39is not a bad way to go about things.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Hearing people talk about their lives,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45that's priceless, and we should be proud of the footage we have
0:00:45 > 0:00:48of our people talking about their lives.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54I've always believed it's healthy to look back.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Memory is the root of the past.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Memory is where we came from.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Memory is what lasts when other things have gone.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15It's Coleraine. It's 1980,
0:01:15 > 0:01:17and a fledgling 15-year-old entertainer
0:01:17 > 0:01:20is dreaming of the big time.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22# Paint the town... PIANO MUSIC
0:01:22 > 0:01:24# And all that jazz
0:01:24 > 0:01:27# Rouge your knees and roll your stockings down
0:01:28 > 0:01:30# And all that jazz
0:01:30 > 0:01:33# Start the car, I know a whoopee spot...
0:01:33 > 0:01:37It wasn't so much Cold Feet - more hot-shoe shuffle,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41as the as-yet unknown hoofer showcased his raw talents
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and shared his steely showbiz aspirations.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47# And all that jazz #
0:01:47 > 0:01:48PIANO MUSIC
0:01:48 > 0:01:52How about you, James? I think you've got ambitions in the theatre.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Yes. I'd like to have a go at it,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58because there's nothing else I'd want to take up as a career at the minute.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Are there many opportunities for children in Northern Ireland?
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Now that the Ulster Youth Theatre's been formed,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07in future I'll be able to work with professionals and children,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and just hope that I and others can get the right break.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Of course, James Nesbitt did fulfil his dream.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18But back in the '60s,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21our swinging society was more chained up than heading out -
0:02:21 > 0:02:23especially on a Sunday.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Sunday in Belfast -
0:02:26 > 0:02:29a Sabbath day in this capital city of Northern Ireland,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32that's considered by many a stranded visitor
0:02:32 > 0:02:36to be about as sombre an experience as it's possible to get.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38The pubs are soundly shut.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41The swings in the park are chained and silent.
0:02:41 > 0:02:47Sunday in Belfast is a declaration of where you stand with God.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50# Ave Maria...
0:02:50 > 0:02:54But in the Holy Cross Parish in Belfast,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57entertainment on a Sunday was positively encouraged.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Fresh-faced youths started their day in solemn worship,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05but ended it at a strictly exuberant Sunday-school dance.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11# Ave Maria #
0:03:12 > 0:03:15There were a number of fascinating things.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17First of all, a number of the men in it I knew.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21The priest walking up and down in his black habit is Father Paul,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23who died a couple of months ago.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29The second thing was how well the children were turned out.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33All of these ones, when they came to the church,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36put on, as their mams said, their Sunday best,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40which is a completely different era now.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42"TONIGHT" PRESENTER: Between 3:00 and 3:30,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46the priest shows them inside the gates of heaven.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Heaven is where every day is like Christmas Day...
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Then it came to this magnificent bit of dancing,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and you saw these youngsters,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and they must've been drilled to dance!
0:03:58 > 0:04:02They were great - putting one hand behind their back, the other,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04wee jigs and steps, shapes they were throwing -
0:04:04 > 0:04:08they were absolutely brilliant! I don't know where they came from,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10but they were magnificent.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13ROCK MUSIC PLAYING
0:04:13 > 0:04:15That's Sunday disco.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22It was a chance for the young kids to get out and do something.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25As I say, in Ardoyne there's not much to do.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28ROCK MUSIC PLAYING
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And the disco was somewhere to go and lower your long hair,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35let your hair down and go a bit daft,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38try your touch for girls.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42There was the two wee girls which were absolutely fantastic,
0:04:42 > 0:04:46and there's me, and there's a fella called Tommy Foster.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49SONG: "Hippy Hippy Shake" by The Swinging Blue Jeans
0:04:49 > 0:04:52And the two wee girls were going buck mad,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56and I'm trying to keep up with them. And the cameraman kept saying to me,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59"Get out of the way, get out of the way."
0:04:59 > 0:05:00But there was not a chance.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03MUSIC CONTINUES
0:05:06 > 0:05:10So the two wee girls are going buck daft, really crazy,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and no wonder he wanted that, cos when I watch them myself,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I can see why he wanted to videotape them and not me.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18They were absolutely brilliant.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21What I really loved about it was, though,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23that many of the people of that time
0:05:23 > 0:05:26were preaching that it was a mortal sin to do the twist.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And here was this boy taking a shilling from the kids
0:05:31 > 0:05:35so that they could do the twist, and do it better than anybody.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37I saw no sin in it. It was lovely.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40But this was 1964,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and just five years later, the optimism of the Beat Generation
0:05:43 > 0:05:47would be shattered by an altogether more sinister soundtrack.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53The Troubles started in that parish in 1969,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and I wonder, people in Ardoyne looking at that tonight,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01will they recognise some people who are maybe no longer with us?
0:06:01 > 0:06:03# The hippy hippy shake...
0:06:03 > 0:06:07And you see yourself, the life and the innocence of children
0:06:07 > 0:06:10is beautiful, but they didn't know what was ahead of them.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13None of the rest of us knew.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15But they enjoyed their time whilst they were there,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17and it was wonderful.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20# The hippy hippy shake #
0:06:26 > 0:06:30"The Courtney Brothers Playhouse and variety show
0:06:30 > 0:06:35are now playing in Carrickmore nightly at eight o'clock."
0:06:35 > 0:06:37"Doors open eight o'clock,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39curtain 8:45."
0:06:39 > 0:06:43If childhood innocence had been lost at the end of the '60s,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46the enduring charm of traditional entertainment
0:06:46 > 0:06:48was heading the same way.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53Since the 1920s, theatrical luminaries the Courtney family
0:06:53 > 0:06:57had brought their fit-up theatres to towns and villages across Ireland.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59But by 1969,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02the cavalcade was in decline for these travelling players.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06SONG: "On The Road Again" by Willie Nelson
0:07:06 > 0:07:08# On the road again
0:07:09 > 0:07:11# Just can't wait to get on the road again
0:07:13 > 0:07:17# The life I love is making music with my friends
0:07:17 > 0:07:19# And I can't wait to get on the road again...
0:07:21 > 0:07:25To my understanding, fit-up theatre was a travelling troupe,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and they would travel round and they would set up theatre.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31They would fit up a tent, a big marquee,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and they would put seats into it,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and they would self-publicise through the community.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38# On the road again
0:07:38 > 0:07:41# Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway...
0:07:41 > 0:07:44In the rural communities there wouldn't be a picture house,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47there wouldn't be a theatre, so this was an opportunity
0:07:47 > 0:07:51for those rural communities to see something of entertainment.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53# On the road again #
0:07:53 > 0:07:57"Tonight's play is The Blacksmith's Curse."
0:07:57 > 0:08:01It was a simple way of life, and it was a nice way of life,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and there was no great pressure on anyone.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11There could have been anything up to 100 companies in Ireland
0:08:11 > 0:08:14in fit-ups going round, cos you'd no cinemas,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17and in actual fact, the way I see it,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20it was probably the forerunner of the modern-day television.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24But now it was the fit-ups that were on television,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28in the first colour documentary made by BBC Northern Ireland.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31The programme would capture a family business
0:08:31 > 0:08:34that Mrs Courtney had passed on to her three sons,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and in the driving seat was oldest brother Michael.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40CHEERING AND WHISTLING
0:08:40 > 0:08:44My brother Albert and myself, we done all the hard work.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Michael wasn't too happy about dirtying his hands,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50I can tell you that. But in saying that, he was a great PR man,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53because he'd talk his way in and out of anywhere,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57and he'd go here and there, and naturally he was promoting the show,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00"I'm here in town with the show", and he was a great talker.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05He was probably one of the biggest liars you ever met in your life, but he could talk!
0:09:05 > 0:09:08A funny thing happened to me on the road today.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11We were driving along in the car.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Same joke, different place name.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I knew it was wrong. It was radiator trouble.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19You're the comedian off-stage as well as on,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and if the comedian isn't any good, the show's the same.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26I got down off the bonnet, and I had a half a bucket of water left.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Word-of-mouth, the cruellest bush telegraph going,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33so make them laugh now and they'll be there tonight.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36What do you think I have here - a water hen?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38THEY LAUGH
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Each night the family would prepare for a variety show,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44whose crowds had been wooed by the ebullient Michael.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47BURLESQUE-STYLE MUSIC
0:09:47 > 0:09:52But how long the Courtneys stayed depended on the extent of each night's takings.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55A flash of thigh, and the main man on piano
0:09:55 > 0:09:59seemed just the ticket for locals eager for some live entertainment.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02# Nowhere could you get that happy feeling
0:10:02 > 0:10:06# When you are stealing that extra bow...
0:10:06 > 0:10:09One of the things I did find really interesting about it was,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13when you looked at the audience, and it was the quantity of men!
0:10:13 > 0:10:15# Yesterday they told you you could not go far #
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Aspects of the performance
0:10:18 > 0:10:21are about seeing the lovely ladies doing their dancing,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and a little bit of leg and a little bit of cleavage,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26all that side of it, but I still was very surprised
0:10:26 > 0:10:28at the quantity of men.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30You met people from all walks of life.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33You met people from different parts of Ireland,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35different cultures, different everything.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39And it was nice! They were good days.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44'It was a very unthankful job, standing at the door.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48'"Is that all?" the boys would say to me.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50'"Is that all that was in tonight, Millie?"
0:10:50 > 0:10:54'"Yes, that's all that was in tonight," I'd say.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58'I'm bored stiff with show business,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01- 'but I haven't got enough money.' - SHE LAUGHS
0:11:04 > 0:11:08I think it was an incredibly hard life - really, really, hard.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10No glamour about it.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13There was no showbiz glamour about that whatsoever,
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and I loved Mrs Courtney's comment, where she talked about
0:11:17 > 0:11:20she was sick to the back teeth of show business,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25but she still had to do it, cos she hadn't enough shillings gathered up.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Who's there?
0:11:27 > 0:11:29It's your fiancee.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34The cruel twist of this dramatic plot
0:11:34 > 0:11:38was that the very medium that lovingly portrayed their life on the road
0:11:38 > 0:11:41was the same that would spell the end of their business.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Television done an awful lot of harm to us. I blame...
0:11:50 > 0:11:54well, not blame - that's evolution - the singing pubs and television.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58They came in big time. That was it. You were gone.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05On the stage, Frankenstein's monster would rise from the dead,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08but off-stage there would be no such revival
0:12:08 > 0:12:11for the Courtney brothers, who, at the end of this run,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14would go their separate ways.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Just before the trucks roll away at the end of the film,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19there are a few shots of empty seats,
0:12:19 > 0:12:24and I found that a really sad and true kind of analogy.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36To see those empty seats, and then going to the trucks and the wagons
0:12:36 > 0:12:41pulling out, you knew that it would be no more.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46# Yes, the fair's moving on
0:12:46 > 0:12:51# And I'll soon be gone...
0:12:51 > 0:12:55The big open landscapes... I'm not sure if it was Tyrone or Donegal,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59but there was that sense of long, open, cold, sore journey.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Not easy journey,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03and I'm sure, deep within themselves,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06the Courtney family knew that that was really the end.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09# Till then
0:13:09 > 0:13:13# The fair's moving on #
0:13:17 > 0:13:20What a day for show business in Northern Ireland this was!
0:13:20 > 0:13:24For many, it had been a long time since they'd felt like seeing a show
0:13:24 > 0:13:26in the centre of Belfast, and there they were,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28queuing on a cold, damp winter's afternoon.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31And what were they waiting for? This.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Do you know the concert's been postponed?
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- You're joking! - I'm not joking. I'm sorry to say it.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Oh, for heaven's sake!
0:13:40 > 0:13:44It's not a snub to Belfast at this particular time.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46# Have you seen the old man
0:13:46 > 0:13:49# In the closed-down market...
0:13:50 > 0:13:53When the curtain opened on the 1970s,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Northern Ireland had entered a dark and difficult decade.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00The ongoing Troubles overshadowed every aspect of our lives,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04and entertainment couldn't escape its grim grasp.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09# Yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news...
0:14:11 > 0:14:14There was a sense of desperation, I think, in Northern Ireland
0:14:14 > 0:14:16in the 1970s, because we were so starved
0:14:16 > 0:14:20of any acts coming to this country. People just didn't come here.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24As people resigned themselves to security checks
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and handbag searches, a cancelled concert
0:14:27 > 0:14:32by singer-songwriter Ralph McTell only reinforced their entertainment-starved existence.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37How do you feel about tonight's concert being cancelled?
0:14:37 > 0:14:40I'm disappointed because I'd looked forward to seeing him.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44He's a very good star, and not often you get to something here.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47# And have you seen the old girl...
0:14:47 > 0:14:49Bear in mind, this is 1974.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51This is Ralph McTell at the peak of his powers.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54This is Streets Of London being a huge hit single,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57so a wide range of people coming to see Ralph,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and they look very disappointed, but I think a lot of it comes down
0:15:00 > 0:15:03to the fact that it's a big night out in Belfast,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05very rare in that period.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09# So how can you tell me you're lonely...
0:15:09 > 0:15:11McTell is suffering from nervous exhaustion,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13and he can't do this date this week
0:15:13 > 0:15:16or any of his other dates in England.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I love the fact that the guy at the door is incredibly polite.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25He's incredibly detailed, explaining a whole range of dates that Ralph might come back.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28So you can either hold on to your tickets for a future date,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30possibly the 26th of January...
0:15:30 > 0:15:33If there hadn't been a camera pointed at him, it would have been,
0:15:33 > 0:15:37"It's not on. Usual story - Troubles. No Ralph McTell. Clear off."
0:15:38 > 0:15:41# And have you seen the old man
0:15:41 > 0:15:43# Outside the seaman's mission...
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Sad streetscapes of bricked-up venues
0:15:46 > 0:15:49were defiling a once-vibrant city, and it didn't help
0:15:49 > 0:15:53that many international artists had clauses in their contract
0:15:53 > 0:15:56saying they wouldn't play Northern Ireland.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Promoting entertainment here was no easy gig.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00# For one more forgotten hero
0:16:00 > 0:16:05# In a world that doesn't care #
0:16:05 > 0:16:08The most disappointing day I suppose a promoter could have
0:16:08 > 0:16:11is the day on which he returns £5,000.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I think it's very poignant to see Jim Aiken in the Ulster Hall.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Sorry, gentlemen, you caught me here on a night like this.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20You can see the disappointment in his eyes,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and it's not just losing money.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25It's because, with somebody like him, it's a passion.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28It's poignant to see him walking around that empty hall,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32reminiscing on other acts that had been there and had been great,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35"But you've chosen a bad night tonight, lads, to be here,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37because our promoter has lost £5,000."
0:16:37 > 0:16:40£5,000 probably wouldn't cover a backstage rider
0:16:40 > 0:16:42for most bands these days. But at that time,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45that's a significant knock. That's a significant blow
0:16:45 > 0:16:49to a man who really was trying to keep entertainment alive
0:16:49 > 0:16:52in Northern Ireland, at a time when there was nothing.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59At night, Belfast city centre was a virtual no-go area.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02But, as these archives show,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06BBC Northern Ireland reported on one cabaret club
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and its performers meeting a challenge head-on
0:17:09 > 0:17:11and keeping the punters entertained.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17This is one of the few cabaret clubs still operating in Belfast -
0:17:17 > 0:17:21the Abercorn, which serves as a rare showcase for local talent.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25It's situated in a security area in the centre of the city,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27so the audience feel relatively relaxed.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30They're a typical cross-section of city life,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33wanting nothing more complicated than a few drinks, a few songs
0:17:33 > 0:17:35and a few laughs.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Well, I was in love with performing and singing.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43I always got the buzz from that,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47when you had a house full,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49an audience.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52You're singing, and hopefully they were enjoyed what you were doing.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55There must be another birthday here somewhere.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58- She looks like she's been celebrating. What age are you?- 25.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Get away to hell, you are not! 25!
0:18:00 > 0:18:03That's the third or fourth time she's been 25 in here.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06'Something happened, Trouble-wise.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08'Very few people were in the club.'
0:18:08 > 0:18:11You won't get annoyed if I give you a kiss for your birthday.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Happy birthday. That was nice.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16The night after they introduced internment here,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18we had six people in the audience,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and we had to do the full show to those six people.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27# So have a happy birthday, baby...
0:18:27 > 0:18:30'Communities became very polarised in those days,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33'and it was quite bad, and there were some nights
0:18:33 > 0:18:35'when it was really, really awful.'
0:18:35 > 0:18:38# This special day, I'd like to say I wish you...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'There was times, in the middle of a show,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44'the police would walk in and say, "We've had a phone call."'
0:18:44 > 0:18:47"There's a bomb in the place." We knew there wasn't.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Probably somebody had been barred at the front door,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52and went down and used the phone.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58# I wish you a happy birthday, baby mine #
0:18:58 > 0:19:03It was very difficult to generate the enthusiasm
0:19:03 > 0:19:07and the energy that you need to do that six nights a week.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08Um, we did our best.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12# A police car and a screaming siren...
0:19:12 > 0:19:15As the '70s embedded itself in our psyche,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19a new wave of artists, performers and writers
0:19:19 > 0:19:22were taking inspiration from these troubled times.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25# That's entertainment
0:19:25 > 0:19:29# That's entertainment...
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Citizens and Saracens shared the streets,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34and a grittier realism had set in.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Against this foreboding backdrop,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41the local creative scene was writing a new, straight-talking script,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and, as one BBC TV profile revealed,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47the stage had found its everyman
0:19:47 > 0:19:51with the emergence of Belfast playwright Martin Lynch.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53# That's entertainment...
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I suppose I'd just had a couple of years
0:19:56 > 0:19:59of suddenly finding myself as a professional playwright.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03I was new to public appearances,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06giving interviews about who I was, what my da worked at,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08all that kind of stuff,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and that programme was a culmination of two years of that.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14# That's entertainment...
0:20:14 > 0:20:17While it's nice for people to ask who you are, what you do
0:20:17 > 0:20:19and what you think, looking back on it,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22it's not so nice.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25It's like Paul Simon says, that every song he ever wrote,
0:20:25 > 0:20:31he would rewrite, and I can feel that about your previous interviews.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Five years ago, few people had heard of Martin Lynch.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Today he's one of our most talked-about dramatists.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Two plays have made his name -
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Dockers, and The Interrogation Of Ambrose Fogarty.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Both are notable for social and political comment,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49laced with uproarious Belfast humour,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52and both had their source in Lynch's background.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55I did fancy myself as a playwright. I thought I was OK,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59a decent storyteller, but, you know, I'm not Brian Friel
0:20:59 > 0:21:03and I'm not Arthur Miller. I know that.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06But I have a good... I'm good at searching out stories
0:21:06 > 0:21:08and I'm good at dramatising for the stage.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10The stage came naturally to me.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14OFF-MIC DIALOGUE
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Watch it, lads! Here's the Brits! THEY LAUGH
0:21:24 > 0:21:28What began as community-based West Belfast theatre
0:21:28 > 0:21:31depicting working-class life in Turf Lodge,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34soon moved to the other side of town,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38and onto the illustrious stage of the Lyric theatre.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41OFF-MIC DIALOGUE
0:21:41 > 0:21:43When I arrived at the Lyric in the '80s,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48I brought the West Belfast crowd that I had built up,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51the audience I had built up in the late '70s, with me.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58So when Dockers went on,
0:21:58 > 0:22:03people remarked that there was an unusually wide social spectrum
0:22:03 > 0:22:05of people coming to the theatre -
0:22:05 > 0:22:09people who didn't know that you didn't smoke in the auditorium,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12or you didn't bring your drinks in with you,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15or you didn't shout across the foyer.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18APPLAUSE
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Lynch's first work at the Lyric's Ridgeway Street home, Dockers,
0:22:23 > 0:22:27became a pivotal play in the development of Northern Irish drama.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Sober and unsentimental, it was a celebratory depiction
0:22:31 > 0:22:33of life in Belfast's Sailortown.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38Here. Take a wee drop of that. It'll even you up, kid.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40HE REPLIES, INDISTINCT
0:22:40 > 0:22:44There is so many stories around Dockers,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47about the characters that Martin created out of it,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51the impact it had on audiences, how people, again the majority men,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55were flooding down Ridgeway Street to see themselves being represented
0:22:55 > 0:22:57back to them by actors,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01and almost going just to see if they could pull it off.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03I'll buy you a drink, Barney.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06The History Of The Troubles, Chronicles Of Long Kesh
0:23:06 > 0:23:09and Dancing Shoes are just three more plays
0:23:09 > 0:23:12that bear witness to Lynch's 30 years
0:23:12 > 0:23:15reflecting our cultural and political landscape.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19And these works have entertained and provoked not just local audiences
0:23:19 > 0:23:21but many others around the world.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27As a playwright, I'm influenced by what my life is about.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34If my front door was 25 cricket fields in front of me,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37I would probably end up writing a play about cricket.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39But that's not what's right in front of me.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43That's not what's on my doorstep. That's not what I see in Belfast,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47and my... Ironically, the theatre is a make-belief world,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and yet I find the theatre to be a place...
0:23:50 > 0:23:53a fantastic place to search for the truth.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55SONG: "Save The Last Dance For Me" by The Drifters
0:23:59 > 0:24:01In 1924,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04an Italian who had come from Scotland at the turn of the century
0:24:04 > 0:24:08opened a dancehall in Bangor. He was Enrico Caproni,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and for over 50 years, the beautiful young things of North Down
0:24:11 > 0:24:15and Belfast and far beyond met there to dance
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and fall in love, and eventually, for many, to marry.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24But while Martin Lynch's players were reigniting local drama,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28the lights were fading on the Northern Ireland dancehall scene.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32These ballrooms of romance were once THE place to be,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35as movers and groovers shook their winklepickers
0:24:35 > 0:24:37to the latest sounds.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43Well, Caproni's was in Bangor.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46It was THE dancehall, really, I suppose,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49in - what? - the '50s, '60s, '70s.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52It was an iconic building, I would say, of its period,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56and it was known throughout the length and breadth
0:24:56 > 0:24:58of Northern Ireland.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03It was also known for the fact that it was totally dry.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08No drink! You could get maybe a tea or a coffee,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11or some of Caproni's famous ice cream.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- # You can dance - # You can dance
0:25:13 > 0:25:15# Go and carry on
0:25:15 > 0:25:18# Until the night is gone and it's time to go...
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I think the attraction of somewhere like Cap's,
0:25:20 > 0:25:25which is what everybody called it, was that that was what you did then.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28They didn't have clubs and things like that.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31It was a great place for good-looking girls.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34I think it said on the doorway,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38"Some of the most beautiful girls in the world
0:25:38 > 0:25:41pass through these portals."
0:25:43 > 0:25:45And, as television and other distractions
0:25:45 > 0:25:49dazzled a new audience, the curtain came down
0:25:49 > 0:25:52on those dancehall days.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55But it wasn't quite over for Caproni's faithful followers,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57as they took to the floor in their droves
0:25:57 > 0:26:01for that final, bittersweet ballroom blitz.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05We're totally sold out on tickets.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08We have 1,000 tickets printed, and completely sold.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11So there's no point in anybody coming on the night
0:26:11 > 0:26:14to pay money. You won't get in without a ticket.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17SONG: "Come Dancing" by The Kinks
0:26:26 > 0:26:29The night that we did the filming there,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32it was amazing, the number of people who were there
0:26:32 > 0:26:36who had met their life partners, met their husbands or their wives.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41They'd kept going for years, and they just absolutely loved it.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46A really packed ballroom. I'd never seen it as full as that, you know,
0:26:46 > 0:26:50of people really, really looking jolly.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52# Come dancing
0:26:52 > 0:26:55# All her boyfriends used to come and call...
0:26:55 > 0:26:58It was a real good party atmosphere.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02It was like saying goodbye to a good old friend,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05and they were all bopping their heads off, actually,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07as you can see.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13I remember it so well. It was in the summer of 1957.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Dave Glover was playing at Caproni's,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19and June and I met in this very glass room behind us here.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22We were married in the same year,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24and we celebrated our silver wedding this year,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29and we had to come tonight. It's pure nostalgia, and we're enjoying every minute of it.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32# Come dancing
0:27:32 > 0:27:34# Just like the palais on a Saturday
0:27:34 > 0:27:37# And all her friends would come dancing
0:27:37 > 0:27:40# Where the big band used to play #
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Caproni's closed, and there were all those other big dancehalls
0:27:46 > 0:27:50like the Flamingo in Ballymena, and there was one in Portstewart.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52I wasn't allowed to go to it, either.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56There was Portrush, and I wasn't allowed to go there! The Arcadia.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00But it's still there, so maybe they should open it up
0:28:00 > 0:28:02and see if they could get it to work again.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06You could have Strictly Come Dancing in the Arcadia, couldn't you?
0:28:08 > 0:28:11# Once upon a time there was a tavern...
0:28:12 > 0:28:17The story of entertainment is one that we can sit back and enjoy,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but it is also the story of how we used to live.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And thanks to a rich archive and the magic of film,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27we can bring those bygone days back to life.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33# Those were the days, my friend
0:28:33 > 0:28:35# We thought they'd never end
0:28:35 > 0:28:37# We'd sing and dance
0:28:37 > 0:28:40# Forever and a day
0:28:41 > 0:28:43# We'd live the life we'd choose
0:28:43 > 0:28:46# We'd fight and never lose
0:28:46 > 0:28:48# For we were young
0:28:48 > 0:28:51# And sure to have our way #
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:55 > 0:28:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:28:59 > 0:28:59.