THE year is 1977 – the Bee Gees fill the airwaves, everyone is in love with Princess Leia, Elvis Presley is dead. In Belfast, a 14-year-old boy wearing denim and aftershave, and with a growing interest in punk and girls, has just been appointed breadboy in the last Ormo Mini-Shop in the world.
Author, peacebuilder and business development leader Tony Macaulay's 2013 novel is the second of his books to be turned into a stage production. And, following the success of British Youth Musical Theatre's (BYMT) production of Paperboy, which had two sell-out runs in Belfast's Lyric Theatre, they return to the stage with this coming-of-age tale.
"This one explores the teenage years and trying to come to terms with life in this divided city," says Macaulay.
Although he says witnessing his life unveiled on stage is "very strange", he is looking forward to seeing "this mix of teenage kicks, taty bread, music, love and war on the stage of the Lyric".
"Obviously, I'm not an expert when it comes to acting and singing, but they asked me to come on board during auditions to gauge if certain people would be good for playing my friends and family in terms of personality. I get goosebumps watching some of the young people because of their likeness."
Macaulay has spent the past 30 years working to build peace and reconciliation at home and abroad, teaming up with hundreds of youth and community groups to break down barriers of mistrust, hatred and division. He acknowledges that growing up in west Belfast at the height of the Troubles "shaped" his life.
"In Paperboy, sectarianism is going on, but I don't realise the significance of it. In Breadboy, reality hits when it literally comes to our front door.
"There is quite a traumatic experience where my neighbour was killed and died in my mother's arms. Translating that to the stage signifies the turning point in the musical and there is a real maturing that happened," he explains.
To represent this, the decision was made to cast two Tonys – a 14-year-old version, Judah McKee, and a 17-year-old version, Jude Leng.
The first hit in the musical is The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go? and Macaulay makes a comparison with Kenneth Branagh's Oscar-nominated movie Belfast.
"His family decided to go; I chose to stay and try to make a difference and make life here better. I wanted to do something to break down the barriers," adds Macaulay who, when pressed to name a song to sum up his life, chooses Spandau Ballet's Through the Barricades.
"It was the song at the time when my wife and I started working on the peace line in west Belfast," explains the 59-year-old, who was a youth leader in the republican community in north Belfast at a time when his wife, Lesley, was doing the same job in Protestant strongholds.
Platinum-selling singer-songwriter Duke Special and Derry-born stand-up comedian Andrew Doyle are part of an acclaimed creative team bringing Breadboy to life.
"There is a scene set in the Westie disco that my parents ran up the Shankill Road and Duke has written what I would describe as 'the perfect disco song' – it's like a Donna Summer hit."
One girl in particular dominates the narrative of Breadboy: Judy Carlton, who sits opposite him in chemistry.
"Judy isn't her real name, but it's quite close. She actually went out with another guy from school and they got married. I met them both recently at a school reunion. She did much better than me in the end," he laughs.
Macaulay's writing journey began when his mother, whilst moving house, handed him his old school reports, and he noticed they consistently praised his story writing ability.
"Professionally, I had written a lot of reports, but I hadn't written creatively for years and thought why don't I just go and do a writing course?
"I never dreamed I would have a book published, never mind it being turned into a musical. The past 12 years have been very exciting for me," adds Macaulay, whose other books include All Growed Up and Belfast Gate.
"The impact of me telling my own story has probably gone beyond all the peace building work I've done on the ground. It's remarkable and demonstrates how powerful storytelling is."
There have been talks about television adaptations of his books, whilst plans for a movie of Paperboy have been held up by Covid.
"The week before lockdown in 2020, I actually showed Donald Petrie [Miss Congeniality] around my paper round and took him to my old school. It had real momentum and actors, but has been delayed twice now. I'm just concentrating on the musicals for now."
And it's not just his own story Macaulay is interested in telling.
"I've written a synopsis for a musical about the story of two men plucked from the depths of a slum in Kampala by a charity in Northern Ireland who bought them a laptop and a guitar as boys," enthuses MacAulay about social entrepreneur Emmanuel Trinity and his best friend Levixone.
Emmanuel is starting up tech businesses to give young people jobs in Uganda, whilst Levixone is one of the country's top singers. His latest hit Mebeera ('situation') is about the struggle of Ugandan youth.
"Both boys are coming over to the opening night of Breadboy in Belfast and we are going to meet with BYMT."
Portstewart-based Macaulay has worked in a number of post-conflict countries, including the Balkan states. Another country close to his heart is Rwanda.
His next book, Kill The Devil, tells a love story between a perpetrator and a survivor of the 1994 genocide. It has been virtually co-written with a young Rwandan screenwriter, Juvens Nsabimana, whom he met three years ago in Kigali.
"We have done this through email, WhatsApp and Messenger," explains Macaulay, who says he was inspired to write the novel as his time in Rwanda was so profound in terms of the level of reconciliation he witnessed.
"I wrote it for Northern Ireland because it offers an insight into what is possible. If we were able to really deal with the past well and have real reconciliation and forgiveness, I think this could be an amazing place."
Does it frustrate him how our country still struggles with its past and once again has no sitting Assembly?
"It saddens me. The context in Rwanda is much worse – one million people died in 100 days – and yet the level of genuine reconciliation is huge.
"We had storytelling workshops in Rwanda where people stood up and shared their stories about being reconciled: when I asked them how they managed to do this, they said it was love. We don't talk about love much in the peace process in Northern Ireland."
He also praises the Rwandan government's policy of reconciliation: "Rwanda is not exactly a country of democracy, but they have a shared approach to the population who are one. It wasn't over-politicised, complicated nor costly."
On a lighter note, I end our chat by asking Macaulay what his favourite bread is. And he's sticking with a favourite from his bread round days. "You can't beat toasted veda with cheese," he laughs.
:: Breadboy runs at Belfast's Lyric Theatre from July 28 to 31. Tickets and showtimes at Lyrictheatre.co.uk
