PREVIEW: 50 Shades of Red, White and Blue
What started out on a Facebook page in June 2012 as a “Belfast piss-take of the other yoke” soon had amassed a huge following and went viral.
Leesa Harker’s postings gathered momentum and took Norn Iron by storm. Releasing a downloadable version of her story via Amazon, she was then approached to write a printed version a short time later. The story hit the stage in January 2013 and has been back time and time again due to popular demand. Fifty Shades of Red, White and Blue tells the story of loveable Maggie Muff in her search for love and how she met the mysterious Mr Red White and Blue, Belfast’s answer to Christian Grey.
Using brash no holds barred language throughout, the show features Maggie Muff and other characters such as big Sally Ann and Sinead the Greener.
Commenting on the backlash the story initially received, producer Martin Lynch said: “Some people will look down and regard the content of this play as some kind of smut or indeed soft porn, crude and ignorant and ultimately demeaning to women.
“I vehemently disagree. I believe Leesa Harker to be a brilliant, brave new voice - and I mean brave. Women are not expected (mostly by men) to talk like this, feel like this, act like this. But somewhere at the core of this play there is a profound truth, a great liberation for women. It just hasn’t been spoken out loud like this before. Don’t take my male word for it - just take a look around the auditorium.”
This one woman show has been a great success mainly for two reasons, the clever script by writer Leesa Harker and the fantastic performance by actress Caroline Curran who plays woman of the hour Maggie Muff.
50 Shades of Red, White and Blue will be at the Millennium Forum on Thursday, 24 September 2015, with tickets from £12.50.
