Bruiser Theatre Co takes to the road

Mojo Mickybo follows the friendship between two boys growing up in Belfast – a friendship that at first is immune to the sectarian violence taking place around them, but which nonetheless is ultimately destroyed by it.

The play will be staged at Saint Joseph’s Church, Sailortown in Belfast as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival on September 10-11 before taking to the road.

Mojo Mickeybo will also be staged at the Waterside Theatre in Londonderry on September 25 and the Lyric Theatre in Belfast from September 28 to October 3.

Mojo and his mate Mickybo are two nine-year-old boys from opposing sides of the sectarian divide. They are ‘thick as two small thieves’, playing headers, being mouthy, building huts, spitting from cinema balconies and re-enacting their favourite movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They are young cowboys in the making, with the violence of the Troubles only obliquely impacting on them - until finally their friendship is destroyed in a way that they only later come to understand.

This is pure, undiluted storytelling in Bruiser’s trademark dynamic physical style - fast-paced, darkly funny and action-packed. The show is brought to life by two of our finest local actors, Michael Condron and Terence Keeley, who seamlessly slip in and out of multiple roles and imaginary worlds.

Mojo Mickybo unsentimentally portrays a kind of innocence betrayed by communal hatred, showing the harsh absurdity of sectarianism. Our young heroes, Mojo and Mickybo, represent the division of a benighted country that has spent a century at war with itself.

Under the meticulous direction of Lisa May, Mojo Mickybo is ready for a live audience following its successful online run while theatres remained closed.

Tickets are on sale from the relevant venues.