Chronicles of Long Kesh

For the most part, this story of hardship in HMP Maze (aka Long Kesh) is fairly orthodox in its prison saga methods. Opened in 1971 for the internment of Northern Irish terror suspects, the institution’s 29-year existence is condensed here into a montage of violent, tragic and farcical snippets from sentences served by republicans and loyalists alike.

The guards are vicious and ineffectual (narrator Freddie notwithstanding) and the internees endearingly roguish. Standard fare, then – until the ensemble cast of burly terrorists launches into a rendition of a Smokey Robinson hit, all jazz hands and three-part harmonies. Writer-director Martin Lynch’s intentions here are plain: to celebrate the prisoners’ defiant cheer while creating pathos with songs given significance by their incongruity. 

But by the halfway mark, these musical numbers begin to grate, taking the sting out of an otherwise poignant, witty take on the Troubles. Lynch typically sidesteps the political turmoil outside the Nissen hut walls, his focus turning instead to the human dimension.

Though the characters are mainly prison drama templates, quick-witted, punchy dialogue and consistently strong performances save them from monotony. The play may at times miss the point (all we see of the shockingly violent 1983 breakout is a fictional concert held as a decoy) but the hunger strike and institutional brutality at its centre are carried off with devastating effect. While this may at first seem a relatively lightweight successor to the 2008 film Hunger (also set in Long Kesh), behind the singing and the wisecracks is a compelling tale of self-destructive individuals at the mercy of ideology.