Derry's Ruth McGinley teams up with Alice McCullough for first time

Two of Northern Ireland’s most acclaimed stage performers are teaming up for the very first time for a special show during the Bounce Arts Festival on October 5.

Derry pianist Ruth McGinley and Belfast performance poet Alice McCullough are working together on this unmissable performance, which includes new material and some wonderful classics that the audience will know and love.

The evening at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre in Limavady promises to be an emotional journey as these award-winning artists fuse their work with Ruth putting together new music to accompany Alice’s poetry.

The Bounce Festival, organised by the University of Atypical and is supported by principal funder the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council and D’Oyly Charitable Trust.

It takes place in Belfast, Limavady and Derry over the weekend of October 4-6 featuring 60 disabled artists.

Alice, whose work has been praised by Stephen Fry, Van Morrison and Michael Longley, explains that this is a chance for audiences to see this work for the very first time.

“Ruth and I have found working together to be very special for both of us – not just as performers but as individuals. We have both had difficult times. I am bi-polar and Ruth has been diagnosed with autism. We blend the humour with the darkness to bring a soulfulness and authenticity to our performance together. This show will make audiences laugh and cry,” Alice said.

Ruth, who was named the BBC Young Musician of the Year piano final winner when she was 16, went on to play with some of the world’s best orchestras. She gave solo performances at prestigious venues including the Southbank Centre, London and the Kennedy Centre in Washington last year.

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During this show, she will play a solo set alongside Alice, who will perform her poems and sing. 

“I have become totally swept away by Ruth’s playing. This is a very new, fresh show for us and I think it will be very special for the audience,” Alice added.

Ruth said: “It has been a joy to work on this show with Alice. Her ability to express difficult subjects with such tenderness and levity is inspiring. We have found lots of common ground in rehearsal which I believe will be heart-warming for the audience to witness.”

A few other highlights in the Northwest include:

Late Lunch Poetry show with Nina Quigley from Inishowen who will share poetry from her latest publication, Working for the Mafia: A Bipolar Experience. She will be joined by Elizabeth McGeown, a Pushcart-nominated poet and film artist on Oct 4 at the Playhouse.

Foyle Pride and Mel Bradley present ‘Not Your Pity Party’ in the Nerve Centre with disabled artists who also identify as LGBTQIA getting the spotlight also on the 4^th at the Never Centre.

And a sound and movement performance at the Nerve Centre by Amble Skuse a composer and sound artist from Scotland and Bosko Begovic, a writer, martial and movement artist from Belgrade.

Tickets for all shows are now available on HERE.