The Big Fellah

The Big Fellah is the latest play from Richard Bean, who is perhaps — and especially following the fuss about his England People Very Nice last year — British theatre’s most provocative playwright. This time he takes a typically comic look at American supporters of the IRA, showing how the New York based Costello, the big fellah of the title, recruits IRA members, raises money for the Republicans and organises shipments of arms to Ireland. There are a lot of good jokes, but also some nasty incidents which show just how unpleasant the reality of armed struggle can be. It is a provocative play, given an exciting production by Max Stafford-Clark’s Out of Joint company, which tours around Britain. But what’s this? I’m looking at the list of tour locations and there are no shows booked for Northern Ireland, or in the Republic for that matter. Surely, now that Derry has been declared the UK City of Culture (2013), this would be exactly the sort of challenging play that Republicans and non-Republicans could appreciate. Following the end of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, it would also be relevant. So why isn’t it touring to Northern Ireland?