local voices, global echoes

Two renowned local playwrights explored vital figures in our history: Catherine Kelly created a drama based on Francis and Hanna-Sheehy Skeffington and Philip Orr centered on an historic meeting between E D Morel and Roger Casement, that led to the founding of the Congo Reform Association.

Francis Sheehy Skeffington was brought up in Downpatrick and Roger Casement’s world-changing meeting took place on 24th January, 1904  in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle.

This Local Voices – Global Echoes launch, on the same date at the same venue, is to acknowledge Co Down’s connection to radical thinkers and activists.

The Congo Reform Association was a major event in human rights discourse and, both Francis and Hanna were feminists and socialists, radical thinkers and activists. So, whilst reflecting the historical, these plays have contemporary relevance. They raise issues that we continue to confront today: issues of militarism and feminism, violence and nonviolence, globalization and justice, individualism and interdependence.

Through dialogue and discussion post performance, the dramas invite reflections and allow insights on the parallels of today, the challenges facing us both locally and globally.