A BORDERLINE CASE
by Harry Barton
Music by James Simmonds
Directed by Carol Wiseman
Cast:
Alfred Anderson, Barbara Hutchins, Lyn Langridge, Michael Loughnan, Chris Mcdermott, Tom Pritchard
THE AUTHOR
Harry Barton came from an Anglo-Irish Protestant background and was the son of a Protestant Archbishop of Dublin. Formerly Deputy Director of the Royal Naval Staff College at Greenwich, by 1974 he was living in Derry.
He had been contributing to Punch for some twenty years and was a regular broadcaster for the BBC in Northern Ireland. His recently published Yours Till Ireland Explodes, Mr. Mooney featured a character embodying the attitudes of extremists on all sides of the Irish divide
Barton was also Chairman of the United Nations Association in Northern Ireland.
THE PLAY
Set in 1944, A Borderline Case follows Colin, a young Irishman, and Henrietta, his Scottish lover, on a journey from Belfast to Dublin to visit Colin's parents and then back again. They are travelling with their baby but are unmarried, and Henrietta sees little reason why this should change; along the way they also become involved in smuggling across the border. Their adventures are accompanied by M'Masters, a Belfast man, and Mooney, a Dubliner, who between them assume a succession of minor characters encountered on the journey.
Beneath its comedy of manners and its affectionate use of Irish stereotypes lies the enduring political division between North and South, with religious prejudice, extremism and changing attitudes towards marriage and women's independence all woven into the story.
PHOTOS
PRESS RESPONSE
A Borderline Case emerged as the critical success of the Festival, praised particularly for using comedy to expose the violence and contradictions underlying Irish sectarianism. B. A. Young in the Financial Times admired the subtle transition from joking to killing and found the final descent into violence “desperately trenchant”. John Elsom in The Listener called it the pick of the Festival and praised Barton's ability to discover humour in seemingly impossible circumstances, though he thought its theatrical technique was not always fully controlled. Anne Morley-Priestman in The Stage also declared it the Festival's hit, admiring its humour, passion and the culminating coup de théâtre. Drama Quarterly thought the play deserved a wider audience for being both genuinely funny and compassionate, while C.F. in the Middlesex County Times praised its movement from affectionate Irish comedy towards the horrific reality beneath it. R.S. in Amateur Stage likewise responded to the darker historical undercurrent beneath its comic fantasy. Only the Thames Valley Times was substantially cooler, describing the mixture of Irish politics, class and women's liberation as a “likeable mess”; even there, however, the play's humour and performances were warmly received.
The Stage
Amateur Stage
The Listener
Thames Valley Times
Middlesex County Times
Drama Quarterly
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
A BORDERLINE CASE