BBC Two Northern Ireland are launching six new short drama commissions, which will be written and directed by Northern Irish filmmakers.
The announcement forms part of BBC Arts’ ‘Culture in Quarantine’, which aims to continue to bring culture into the homes of audiences during lockdown.
The commissions, which are supported by BBC Arts, the Lyric Theatre, BBC Northern Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland involve theatrical dramas.
The six commissions will feature work from some of Northern Ireland’s biggest names in writing and acting – including Derry Girls’ Lisa McGee and Game of Thrones’ Conleth Hill.
They will explore the positive and negative aspects of social isolation and lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the title Splendid Isolation: Lockdown Drama, the five minute theatrical pieces will be collated and broadcast on BBC Two Northern Ireland in June and made available afterwards on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer.
The films have been written by top writers including Lisa McGee (Derry Girls), Owen McCafferty, ( Ordinary Love, The Absence Of Women), David Ireland (Cyprus Avenue), Abbie Spallen (Pumpgirl ), Sarah Gordon (Sinkhole in Guatemala) and Stacey Gregg (Scorch).
Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee says: “I’m thrilled to be working with the Lyric and the BBC on this ambitious project and to be collaborating with such exciting Northern Irish talent”.
They will be directed by Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones), Des Kennedy (Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, Good Vibrations), Emma Jordan (Artistic Director, Prime Cut Productions), Jimmy Fay, (Exec Producer, Lyric Theatre) and Cathy Brady, (Wildfire, Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) and Damian McCann.
Actors featuring in the dramas, which will be shot in accordance with social distancing guidelines, include Anthony Boyle, who won an Olivier Award for his performance as Scorpius in Harry Potter & The Cursed Child in the West End and later on Broadway, Stella McCusker (Game Of Thrones, Ordinary Love) and Kerri Quinn (Coronation Street, Come Home).
Sarah Gordon, Abigail McGibbon and David Pearse (Vikings, Fifty Dead Men Walking) also feature.
Splendid Isolation: Lockdown Drama will broadcast on BBC Two Northern Ireland, 10pm on Thursday 25 June.
