The Dundonald Liberation Army

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For another attempt to laugh sectarianism out of existence, turn to the Dundonald Liberation Army ( dla), consisting of two amiably boneheaded warriors bent on freeing the Belfast suburb of Dundonald from the nearby town of Lisburn (into which, in real life, it has been incorporated). Having built up a big following on Facebook, the doughty guerrillas will make their third appearance on the Belfast stage in June. The DLA’s commander is played by Matthew McElhinney, an energetic young actor-director whose many contributions to Belfast theatre have included a turn in “Three’s a Shroud”, a hilarious skit on Catholic and Protestant undertakers. Horse wants to support his friend Davy, but he's also getting it in the ear from Suzie because she needs her Balenciaga sliders and dermal fillers and whatnot.

Gerard trained at The Lir National Academy Dramatic Arts, Dublin, and Rainbow Factory School of Performing Arts, Belfast. I wanted an illustration. The actors agreed to do a scene or two. First, we had an illustration of the bad stuff that is meat and drink to satirical playwrights. It dealt, naturally, with money and expenses, with Davy the Venezuelan, clearly nouveau riche at heart, claiming he was so thirsty after working for the council away from home that he had to stay over in a hotel and quaff quite a bit of thirst-quenching Champagne more or less for health reasons. The DLA’s style—bling, fake tan, ostentatious facial hair—is unmistakably that of loyalist criminal godfathers. Their performances have attracted working-class Protestant men who might not normally be theatre-goers. Yet at times the dotty rhetoric is reminiscent of Irish nationalism. Stephen Large, creator of both the DLA and “Three’s a Shroud”, insists he is an “equal-opportunity offender”, who tries to show proper disrespect for all sides. The lead character is a grumpy, lecherous old Irish republican called, simply, Da. He is played and was created by Tim McGarry, a prolific comedy writer and veteran of the legal profession who grew up amid the horrors of religiously divided north Belfast in the 1970s. Like any Northern Irish person of around 60, Mr McGarry has memories that are both dark and farcical. The son of a Catholic surgeon, he recalls the Protestant gang that tried to burn his family home but could not, to judge by a scribbled slogan, spell the name of their own religion correctly. Jo Donnelly adds that this plays particularly badly during the cost of living crisis: “We feel they’re getting a pay cheque while we don’t know what to do about money.”

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You might think satire is dead but playwright Stephen G Large got a few hits with this ambitious Trumpian story of the Dundonald brigade going legit and finally storming the Lisburn and Castlereagh council chamber. This outrageous comedy is written by Stephen G. Large and produced by Soda Bread Theatre, starring Matthew McElhinney and Matthew Forsythe and will introduce Jo Donnelly to the cast for the first time. The loss of his younger brother and his friend, followed soon after by the pandemic, made for a very difficult time in the playwright’s life. However, he found solace in his work, and he hopes that the new show next week will be able to provide a measure of respite for some in the audience.

Of course, and this is the interesting bit, Davy the former terrorist – sorry freedom fighter – wants real power so makes the transition to mainstream politics. Horse, the passionate Dundonaldian, isn’t happy in the end.Large adds: "Martin Lynch said to me that Dog DLA Afternoon, 'reeked of working class Protestantism'. When we were working on Three's A Shroud, he also told me that I was doing something that he'd never seen before – that I was 'bringing young working class Protestant men into the theatre'.

Yes, it's a political satire about Northern Ireland, but it also taps into Trump and a lot of global events. We're looking at WAG culture, social media, pop culture, how social media affects modern relationships and all of these things. It's about modern life and Northern Irish life as well. The pair bounced incredibly off each other and were not afraid to make themselves look the fool in the name of comedy and it paid off.I've worked with Matthew McElhinney now for years, including on Three's A Shroud which we took to the Waterfront Hall in 2017 and 2018. And the first time I saw Matthew Forsythe was in a smaller production of A Night In November in The Devenish [directed by McElhinney]. He was fantastic in that so I got speaking to him on the night and we cast him in Dog DLA Afternoon at the Opera House."

However, DLA's second-in-command Horse becomes increasingly resentful of Davy’s lavish new lifestyle as a public servant, with a seemingly bottomless expense account. Horse rejects the DLA’s ceasefire and splinters the movement. Yet the arts community has as much spirit as Ms Donnelly’s characters, Susie who is “feisty” and Norma who will go toe-to-toe over her principles because she knows she is right. As Donnelly observes, many in the business have worked away in London or elsewhere but choose to return: “We may not make much money but theatre matters. We’ll say, there isn’t a lot of funding but let’s put something on anyway.”As the last of a trilogy, Vote DLA will be the culmination of nearly a decade’s work, as the shows have progressed from the Opera House’s Baby Grand studio to The MAC and now to the magnificent main auditorium at the Opera House. For Stephen, the opening night will be a proud moment.