BOOK OF THE WEEK
Troubles Over The Bridge by James Ellis, published by Lagan Press
THIS memoir is the definitive account of the infamous 1959 scandal that saw the late Belfast director and actor Jimmy Ellis take on the Group Theatre board of directors over the production of Over The Bridge, a story of shipyard bigotry and violence, rough and real.
At the press conference to introduce Ellis as the newly appointed artistic director of the Group, playwright Sam Thompson spoke of his forthcoming play in some detail, unfortunately alerting Richie McKee, chairman of the theatre, to the controversial nature of the work. So the cat-and-mouse game began.
McKee wanted to read the script; strangely there were no extra copies available. It mattered not. McKee, one of Ulster’s elite, suspected Thompson’s play of being ‘subversive’; a script went missing and on the afternoon of the first rehearsal McKee summoned Ellis and actor’s union rep Maurice O’Callaghan to a meeting.
The outcome was predictable. The chairman of the board wanted sections of the play removed – even one of the major characters was under threat. He criticised the language and claimed the play "could lead to civil unrest and even rioting", stating: "It is the policy of the directors of the Ulster Group Theatre to keep political and religious controversies off our stage.” His board fell in behind him and the production was cancelled.
The drama behind the scenes is documented in this thoroughly enjoyable book. The blatant censorship was appalling, yet you’ve only to think of Newtownabbey Borough Council’s failed attempt to ban The Reduced Shakespeare Company to realise it isn't past history.
Troubles Over The Bridge tells a tale of two cultures, the raw passion of the shipyard and the well-known actors who believed the play deserved to be produced, and the city fathers who just couldn’t understand that characters like Warren Baxter and Davy Mitchell existed, let alone what they stood for.
What happened after that board meeting? With the courage of his convictions, Ellis resigned from the Group, started his own company and went from personal success to success – most memorably in long-running BBC detective show Z Cars, and alongside Kenneth Branagh in the "Billy" plays. And the play? It too was a huge success and to this day is still being performed.
Anne Hailes
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende, published in hardback by Simon & Schuster
ISABEL Allende is known for her wondrous storytelling and ornate descriptions, becoming a global phenomenon with her first novel in 1982, The House of Spirits.
We feel glimmers of this in her latest novel; however, there are overly long passages of description and sometimes-stiff dialogue. Nevertheless, there is a heart-warming story at the core and Allende takes the reader on a journey of forbidden romance and deep friendships.
The story has the makings of a poignant historical novel. Irina Bazili and Alma Belasco cross paths in a nursing home where Irina is a care worker and Alma is a resident, with the assistance of Alma's grandson, Seth.
Irina gives herself the task of discovering Alma's mysterious past and her love affair with Ichimei Fukuda. This beautiful romance is slowly revealed through flashbacks and letters, while at the same time; Seth and Alma's love begins to flourish.
It's a touching novel but one that fails to really get off the ground, Allende doing more 'telling' than 'showing'.
Heather Doughty
Weird Dublin by Reggie Chamberlain-King, published by Blackstaff Press
BEN Schott’s hugely popular Schott’s Original Miscellany became “the publishing sensation of the year” in 2002. With its strangely fascinating array of facts – such as who provides bagpipes to the queen and the way bishops sign their names – it sparked a long list of copycat miscellany/almanac books.
You could say that Weird Dublin is funny peculiar not funny ha-ha, so it’s not up there with the best of them. It’s a collection of odd news stories, letters, obituaries and adverts from mainly the 1700s and 1800s and it doesn’t really justify 200 pages.
There’s a little too much space devoted to fortune tellers, grave-robbers, medical conditions ('leeches and venereal disease’), Jonathan Swift and 'psychic messages from Oscar Wilde’.
There’s some interesting material on ventriloquists, suicide notes, `musical glasses’ and an Englishman who changed his name to Aleister and announced the birth of the Irish Republic in New York in 1915, but I thought a book called 'Weird Dublin’ would have more contemporary material, stories about place and street names and be generally more amusing than Chamberlain-King’s chosen collection of oddities.
Brian Campbell
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks, published in hardback by Little, Brown
KING David's life was long and bloody: whether defeating Goliath, evading deranged King Saul, or fiercely consolidating his power once crowned, he is never far from gore-soaked battles or back-stabbing politics.
In her new novelisation of his life, Pulitzer-winning Geraldine Brooks does not flinch in depicting everything from mutilation to massacre to horrific rape – raw Old Testament with a dash of Game Of Thrones.
Initially the book is a thrilling surprise, early years of war and wives recounted in flashback by David's prophet Natan, but later chapters of the rise and gruesome fall of his children are repetitious (he had a lot of children) with an increasing over-reliance on Natan's prophecies to drive a sagging narrative.
While understandable, its mildly reverential quest for historical accuracy is The Secret Chord's downfall, ensuring David and family remain the historical figures they are, fixed points rather than breathing characters, and leaving the book – like its hero – a flawed success.
Michael Anderson
