Accomplished Derry actors discuss upcoming play

“Why did he leave? Why did he come back? What’s going on? What happened to Kieran McGowan in the intervening 45 years?”
Accomplished Derry actor, Gerry Doherty, one of the stars of the poignant comedy-drama ‘The Derry Yank’, enticingly setting the scene for the play’s curtain-up in Derry’s Millennium Forum on Friday and Saturday, June 27 and 28, at 8.00pm.

Following last year’s sell-out premiere in St Columb’s Hall, the two-act play by local writer Eamonn Lynch, is back by popular demand.

Gerry who is reprising his role as the mysterious Martin Duffy, will be joined onstage by Maeve Connelly, playing Maggie Kelly, and Pat Lynch, the compassionate curmudgeon Kieran McGowan.

Speaking to The Derry News, Gerry described “The Derry Yank” as a “great laugh”.

“It is full of Derry humour. There are marvellous moments in it. Kieran McGowan has at least one marvellous moment. I can’t reveal what the marvellous moment is but the audience will definitely recognise it when it happens!” said Gerry, whose previous stage roles have included the elder John Hume in ‘Hume: Beyond Belief’ in Derry’s Guildhall; he also played The Father in the 2004 Oscar-nominated short film, ‘Everything in This Country Must’.

“Kieran is hilariously funny. He is a typical Derry man. He’s got great wit and humour about him and as Martin Duffy, I am battling against that. I’ve been in America. I’ve been away for so long, therefore I am missing a lot of Kieran’s quick-wittedness,” revealed Gerry.

He added: “And, beneath it all there is this undercurrent of ‘What’s going on between these two?’ And the play slowly reveals all that and then we meet a character, Maggie Kelly, and she has a complicated backstory as well - like a lot of people in Derry throughout what is euphemistically called The Troubles.

“The three of us as characters all blend into that mish-mash of Derry humour and the rapid fire witticisms, the slagging, and the slagging beneath the slagging.

“‘The Derry Yank’ is a great wee play. I think it is a beautiful way of telling three separate stories and personally, as an actor, I always think when I come away from a play, ‘God, I went nine rounds with Mike Tyson’ because I can stand on the stage as a character and 300 feet away I can make somebody cry and 300 feet away I can make somebody laugh and 300 feet away I can make somebody think about what I just said.

“That’s the power of theatre and when the audience walks out afterwards thinking they’ve done nine rounds with Mike Tyson as well because they’ve been up there and down there and battered and back again and wow. ‘I hate that boy, naw I love him’, all those emotions,” said Gerry with great enthusiasm.

Smiling while, eventually, getting her spoke in, Maeve Connelly, or is it momentarily Maggie Kelly, said she was relishing re-visiting her “good, substantial female role” in ‘The Derry Yank’.

She added: “Maggie is a strong character. She is feisty. She has had a terrible experience in her past and that is really upsetting for her and she covers that up.

“It is also a lovely role in that there are lots of different emotions. Maggie is quite nosey and quite cheeky. There is always a lot of banter between her and Kieran.

“She’s got a well of hurt and pain underneath it which she suppresses but then she has to deal with that and that is interesting. It is not a play about The Troubles but the Troubles definitely come into it,” said Maeve.
Maggie Kelly also brings a bit of balm between Martin Duffy and Kieran McGowan.

“She softens their relationship,” said Maeve. “She takes a hand out the two of them and metaphorically bangs their heads together.

“I think the audience will like the darker, very emotional storyline about a horrendous experience she has had in her past.

“I think as any woman does, Maggie lightens the atmosphere but she brings poignancy and emotional depth to ‘The Derry Yank’ as well,” said Maeve, who was full of praise for her fellow actors.

“Pat and Gerry are brilliant, they really, really are. They are very funny. There is a lot of banter between them and a lot of fun. They have been wonderful to work with and that is the reason I am doing the play again is because they are such good fun - although we have had moments of tension,” she laughed.

Maeve, who recently had a role in the film ‘The Death of Robin Hood’ which starred Hugh Jackman and Julie Comer, described Michael Poymor, director of ‘The Derry Yank’ as “an absolute sweetheart”.

“He has a real heart of gold. He is so learned and experienced. He can do stage lighting and sets and costume and set building. He has done it all. He knows his stuff and he trusted us as well to do what we had to do,” she said.

Delighted to have been cast in ‘The Derry Yank’ by “talented” playwright Eamonn Lynch, Maeve said she couldn’t wait to get back onto the Millennium Forum stage.

“The last thing I did there was ‘The Bog Couple’ by Liam Campbell, directed by Kieran Griffiths.”

For bonus and hilarious behind the scenes updates on The Derry Yank as opening night approaches, tune into its social media platforms: Instagram - thederryyank and TikTok - thederryyank.

Tickets for The Derry Yank cost £24 which includes a £1.50 development fee and are available here.