Children's Express journalists review what's on offer at the 2001 Belfast Festival at Queens.
| The play focused on families in conflict... there was a feeling of discomfort and pandemonium. |
The premier of No Place Like Home produced by Tinderbox opened in the Northern Bank Buildings (October 25).
The play focused on families in conflict; houses were burnt down, people ran about the stage chaotically shouting and swearing, there was a feeling of discomfort and pandemonium. It showed people who had been intimidated out of their homes or been displaced because their homes no longer existed.
People's plight is portrayed through conversations. A couple tell their story, never fitting in and always being disapproved of.
"No Place Like Home was my first introduction to physical theatre, I was not quite sure what to make of all the dance," said Thomas Kielty, 16.
"There were so many people dancing about and talking over each other so the dialogue was very hard to make out and I could not understand what they were saying," he added.
The stage and the actors dressed in drab, non-descript colours provided a bleak picture of people on the run and people tired of running. Gates and railings line the stage and give a sense of imprisonment.
Ironically the whole piece of an uprooted unsettled people leads some of the audience to feel uncomfortable and unsettled too.
About the team
This article was produced by Thomas Kielty, 16 and Michael Leathem, 15. It was published on the Belfast Festival website.
