The Year that was 2018
We kicked off 2018 in January as we presented our plans to councillors at City Hall, to build a brand new theatre in West Belfast! Yes folks, that’s what we intend to do and having received funding from both the Arts Council and Belfast City council, we kickstarted a feasibility study with Mackle architects in February!
March saw our first production of the year when we performed a rehearsed reading of Hugh Stoddart’s powerful piece ‘Gibraltar Strait’ at the Felons club as part of Feile An Fhearraigh. Over 300 people showed up on the anniversary of the Gibraltar 3 including Richard Wakely from the Belfast International Arts festival who was so impressed with the read through, that he has invited us to stage a full production at the festival in The MAC, Belfast in October.
MAY was both nostalgic and progressive as for the first time, we teamed up with the guys at the Balloon Factory Productions to present our classic ‘MAN IN THE MOON’ at The MAC, Belfast as part of Mental Health Awareness week.
In July, Halifax foundation and Belfast City Council once again supported Brassneck Youth for their hugely successful annual Summer Scheme. Even better news came as Children in need agreed to fund the Youth company for the next three years!
August saw another Brassneck world premiere at Feile 30 in The Roddys with our Artistic Directors third full length play ‘A STATION ONCE AGAIN’. This hilarious rollercoaster reflecting on 30 years of the West Belfast Festival played to full houses before doing a short tour of the north.
We also revived another classic as part of Feile 30, this time at The Lyric with the huge crowd pleaser, A NIGHT WITH GEORGE
We ended the Summer awarding our third annual Pam Brighton Bursary to a young person from West Belfast to attend an arts education course and added a further bursary from 2019 onwards as we established the Marc O'Shea Bursary in memory of our friend and colleague with a very generous contribution from Marc’s family and friends.
In September we welcomed a new member to the Brassneck team when Alison McCrudden joined as Company manager. Long may she reign!
October saw Gibraltar Strait realised as a full production with a star cast at The MAC, Belfast as part of the Belfast International arts Festival. The show sold out long before we opened and wowed critics and audiences alike.
We finished the year with our fourth annual outing at The Balmoral hotel with our Summer hit ‘A STATION ONCE AGAIN’ (The Christmas version)!
We cant wait to announce our 2019 season to you and see what surprises lie in store!
March saw our first production of the year when we performed a rehearsed reading of Hugh Stoddart’s powerful piece ‘Gibraltar Strait’ at the Felons club as part of Feile An Fhearraigh. Over 300 people showed up on the anniversary of the Gibraltar 3 including Richard Wakely from the Belfast International Arts festival who was so impressed with the read through, that he has invited us to stage a full production at the festival in The MAC, Belfast in October.
MAY was both nostalgic and progressive as for the first time, we teamed up with the guys at the Balloon Factory Productions to present our classic ‘MAN IN THE MOON’ at The MAC, Belfast as part of Mental Health Awareness week.
In July, Halifax foundation and Belfast City Council once again supported Brassneck Youth for their hugely successful annual Summer Scheme. Even better news came as Children in need agreed to fund the Youth company for the next three years!
August saw another Brassneck world premiere at Feile 30 in The Roddys with our Artistic Directors third full length play ‘A STATION ONCE AGAIN’. This hilarious rollercoaster reflecting on 30 years of the West Belfast Festival played to full houses before doing a short tour of the north.
We also revived another classic as part of Feile 30, this time at The Lyric with the huge crowd pleaser, A NIGHT WITH GEORGE
We ended the Summer awarding our third annual Pam Brighton Bursary to a young person from West Belfast to attend an arts education course and added a further bursary from 2019 onwards as we established the Marc O'Shea Bursary in memory of our friend and colleague with a very generous contribution from Marc’s family and friends.
In September we welcomed a new member to the Brassneck team when Alison McCrudden joined as Company manager. Long may she reign!
October saw Gibraltar Strait realised as a full production with a star cast at The MAC, Belfast as part of the Belfast International arts Festival. The show sold out long before we opened and wowed critics and audiences alike.
We finished the year with our fourth annual outing at The Balmoral hotel with our Summer hit ‘A STATION ONCE AGAIN’ (The Christmas version)!
We cant wait to announce our 2019 season to you and see what surprises lie in store!