ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN 1972: VOICES FROM THE HEART OF THE TROUBLES

Written by Damian Gorman

Directed by Kieran Griffiths

Presented by The Playhouse Theatre and Peacebuilding Academy

The statistics for 1972- the worst year of the ‘Troubles’- are astonishing: almost 500 killings (nearly 100 in the month of July alone); 10,000 shootings, 2,000 explosions, and almost 5,000 people physically injured.

But statistics only take you so far, and they don’t take you inside the hearts of people who were there. 1972 was an extraordinary year- a year when it felt like anything could happen- but it was a year of lives as well as deaths. And here is an evening of voice, of people- gathered by the poet Damian Gorman- which carries inside stories of both.

This show opened in September 2020 and was broadcast live every night at 8pm.

Click below to watch the full performance

As our 150 seat theatre remained empty during the performance of this theatre piece due to Covid-19, we invited those who have experienced loss to send objects or photographs of significance or importance to us here at The Playhouse, to be placed on empty chairs in the theatre.

"The empty chair is very powerful. It’s a very powerful symbol of loss, of grief. Rather than leave these empty, if you have bits of grief, bits of loss in your life, thought the Troubles, not through the Troubles, if it made sense to you, here is a place for that to go.”

Community Cast 

Richard Moore 

Victor Montgomery 

Hazel Deeney

Siobhan Livingstone 

Tom Kelly

Susan Stanley

Pat Lynch – Caretaker

Artistic / Production Team 

Damian Gorman - Poet, and Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy International Resident Artist

Kieran Griffiths – Director

Ciaran Bagnall – Set Designer 

Tracey Lindsay – Assistant Set Designer 

Damian Cox – Lighting Designer and Production Manager 

Brian O’Doherty – Sound Composer 

Conan McIvor – Projection and Video Designer

Chloe Harkin – Stage Manager 

John Paul Conaghan – Playhouse Technical Theatre Manager 

Ursula McHugh – Project Therapist 

The Playhouse Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy 2018 – 2020

The Playhouse’s Theatre & Peacebuilding Academy (TPA) is an ambitious truth recovery cross border project. Through the creation of theatre and art, the project enables participants and audiences to reflect on the impact of the Conflict, as well as promoting dialogue and building techniques to engage with painful memories.

TPA is currently working with victims and survivors and representatives from historical atrocities, as well as engaging with many others impacted by the Northern Ireland Conflict.
Through our work untold stories will be explored in a safe and accessible environment, promoting healing and reconciliation in a liberating, healing and transformative way.
Our team include: Playhouse Founder & Artistic Director, National / International Project Coordinator Elaine Forde, Local Project Coordinator Liam Campbell and Administrator Cindy Le Clère.

Partner Organisations: Gerard Deane - Holywell Trust; Anthony Russell - Thomas D’Arcy McGee; David Grant, Queens University Belfast.

The PEACE IV Programme is an EU funded Programme designed to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border region. It is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).