A Night in November is the stunning multi-award winning play from Marie Jones, the Writer of other hit shows including Women On The Verge Of HRT, Stones In His Pockets, Dancing Shoes; The Story Of George Best, Fly Me To The Moon, Christmas Eve Can Kill YouFollowing a recent sell-out run at The Lyric Theatre Belfast, this brand new 25th Anniversary Productions, by Sodabread Theatre Company, performs at Millennium Forum, Derry, Sunday 22nd September 2019 as part of an Irish Tour
A Night In November tells the story of Kenneth MacCallister, a clerk in the local welfare office. Kenneth is a Belfast Protestant who has followed all the rules. He loved who he was supposed to love. He lived where he was expected to live. He fought who he was taught to fight. That is, until one night … A Night In November … when he did the most exciting,outrageous, crazy, mad thing he’d ever done!
It was a delight for this North West Culture Gal to catch up with actor Matthew Forsythe last week to discuss his role in this 25th anniversary production of the show. He told me the shows “are going brilliant. I’m loving it and we’re having full houses every night.”
It’s now 25 years since it’s first production, so just how relevent is it to produce such a show again now? “When the director and I got together”, Matthew says “we wanted to be as sensitive as possible. I was at the match that night 25 years ago and we wanted to show how Ireland and Northern Ireland have progressed in this time. This is us bringing it to the present day. It has a very different energy to the production and a very powerful ending. What resonates is the truth.”
Matthew tells me that Marie herself went on this journey to discover her identity. So there’s a lot of truths in the show which certainly will make it very relevant to its audience.
Is it more difficult performing a monologue I asked Matthew? “It’s more difficult indeed. There are a lot of benefits but it’s also a lot of hard work. There are 20 different charaters, with different accents, phisicalities etc. I need to have the ability to snap in and out of all these roles.”
One of the things Matthew Forsythe repeated during our chat was that this is his favourite piece he’s done. Just why is this so? “When I first saw this show I was attending drama school. I remember going to the match in question and singing the songs. I didn’t fully uderstand what the ‘troubles’ meant and so I want to get the message of the show across in a sensitive way. It’s a challenge to go on the stage for two hours and hold the attention of the audience. But it’s a wonderful opportunity and it’s simply my favourite because of the grandeur of it.”
I was aware that prior to getting into drama, Forsythe was a joiner. And that craft is still with him he told me – just before our chat he’d been fitting a new kitchen. A creative being this man is in many ways!!
Finally I asked Matthew Forsythe the question: ‘Can Passion Change a Man?’ Goodness, he was a bit stuck for words!!! I caught him on the hop. “If you truly want something , you should go after it. It’s important to be brave and have self-belief.” Wise words indeed.
A Night in November is at Millennium Forum, Derry on Sunday 22nd September 2019. It sounds like a great one.
Tickets can be bought at the box office by calling 028 7126 4455 or visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk
GMcC
North West Culture Gal 