Ruairi Conaghan Brings LIES WHERE IT FALLS To The Edinburgh Fringe

LIES WHERE IT FALLS, written and Performed by Ruairi Conaghan, directed By Patrick O'Kane, and presented by Andy Jordan Productions, runs 31 July to 25 August at Venue C alto Studio Quaker Meeting House 7 Victoria Terrace Edinburgh EH1 2JL

When Ruairi Conaghan was asked to play the part of Patrick Magee, the IRA man who tried to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and her government in the 1984 Brighton Bomb attack, it triggered memories of an act of IRA violence upon his own family when he was a child. On 16 September 1974, Judge Rory Conaghan was shot dead on his Belfast doorstep by a gunman disguised as a postman. He was holding his 9 year old daughter's hand at the time. He was one of the first Catholic Judges shot dead by the IRA in a campaign which continued for another 20 years. Ruairi Conaghan is Judge Conaghan's nephew. He was 8 years of age at the time of the shooting and had a particularly close relationship with his uncle and his 9 year old cousin.

After playing Magee, Ruairi's next role was the Player King in the famous Benedict Cumberbatch production of Hamlet. It was only then that the true consequence of his decision to play Magee took its toll. The speech about King Priam of Troy's assassination, told by the Player King to a broken Prince Hamlet, stirred up Ruairi's memories of his family's devastation and led to a physical and mental collapse that threatened his life. It was only through the love of his family and the community of theatre that brought him back from the brink.

At a time when the violent legacies of Northern Ireland's recent past have never been more important to talk about, and shocking and divisive conflicts play out before us daily, this acclaimed show uses song, poetry, humour and Shakespeare to tell a courageous, joyous and uplifting tale of recovery - performed with raw, truthful, soul-bearing honesty.

In this compelling and surprisingly funny solo play, Downton Abbey's Ruairi Conaghan tells the story of the murder of a loved one and the lasting and unpredictable trauma that flowed from it - leaving us with a sense that even through the worst of times, if we can find empathy, there is always hope.

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