The Rat in the Skull
Dark drama set during the Troubles is back on stage
By Eamonn Houston
e.houston@dailyireland.com
A highly-charged play set during the darkest days of the North’s Troubles returns to the stage in June.
The Rat in the Skull was first staged in 1984 when the North was in the vice of conflict.
Written by Ron Hutchinson, the son of an RUC man, the play features an ex-IRA prisoner and Oscar nominee in the role of one of the force’s chief interrogators.
Derry man Gerry Doherty, recently nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the gritty short film Everything in This Country Must, plays an RUC man sent to Paddington Green station in London to force a confession from a suspected IRA bomber.
The new production of the play, to be staged in Derry’s Playhouse Theatre, is directed by James Lecky.
The Rat in the Skull is essentially a dialogue play, set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a police station questioning room.
Speaking to Daily Ireland during rehearsals, Mr Lecky said that the production depended little on the use of props. The play was commissioned by the Playhouse in Derry as part of a conflict-resolution initiative.
“I’m glad to say that this is very much a period play now,” he said. “When it was first staged in 1984 and then eight years ago, things were a lot different. Now it has an educational aspect. A month or two ago, we took it to 16 to 18-year-olds who weren’t even born in the context that the play is set in. That was a real eye-opener.”
Speaking of his return to the role of an acerbic RUC interrogator, Mr Doherty said: “I’ve had a lot of character development experience for this role over the years.
“There certainly is an irony in playing this role but I believe that the play depicts a fair portrayal of how a policeman was trained to debase and demean and break. That is the way things would have operated.”
According to James Lecky, The Rat in the Skull allows the voices of some of the main protagonists in the Troubles to be heard.
Gerry Doherty added: “There is nothing in the language of the whole of the play that doesn’t have a relevance. The language is very dense.
“It does no harm for audiences to see what the situation was in a state of conflict.
“Things have moved on since 1984 but this is still a very powerful piece of drama.”
Britain’s New Statesman magazine described the play as “crudely beautiful and passionate”. The Guardian newspaper described the role of the RUC interrogator, played by Mr Doherty, as “credible and even sympathetic”.
The Rat in the Skull goes on stage at Derry’s Playhouse, 5-7 Artillery Street, on Monday June 6.
It runs until Saturday June 11, showing at 8pm each evening.
Tickets cost £9 or £6 concessions.
