Féile Derry stage production of ‘City Til I Die’ to premiere tomorrow night

Maureen Wilkinson, Michael O'Doherty, Aisling Hutton, Pat Lynch and Brian Hasson from the cast of City Til I Die.

placeholder image — Maureen Wilkinson, Michael O'Doherty, Aisling Hutton, Pat Lynch and Brian Hasson from the cast of City Til I Die.

The play will examine what it means to be a Derry City supporter and how being a supporter enhances the lives of so many

The premiere of Féile Derry's latest stage production, ‘City Til I Die’ will take place at Long Tower Youth & Community Centre tomorrow night and it is a show not to be missed!

Taking place at the Longtower Youth & Community Centre at 7:30pm, for one night only, the play will examine what it means to be a Derry City supporter and how being a supporter enhances the lives of so many.

Over the past six months, those involved have been working hard on a production which celebrates the club’s history and the positive contribution the club and its fans make to the city.

The play will feature a cast that includes well known Derry actors Pat Lynch, Francis Harkin, Maureen Wilkinson, Jonathan Burgess, Conor Barr and Brian Hasson as well as debuts from Spasie McGilloway, Michael Doherty, Ruairi Campbell, Aisling Hutton and Harley Nixon.

Gareth Stewart, from Gasyard Walled Féile, says the play has been designed not just as a celebration, but also to encourage discussion around a football club that means so much to the people of the city and beyond.

“If you look at the key cultural outlets in the area, football and Derry City and the Brandywell would be a key one there,” he explained.

“Over the last few years, there's been a big buzz around Derry City; coming out of the pandemic, new families are back, tickets are in demand, there’s a new manager, the team's doing well and the games are sold out every time so we thought maybe we could do something about Derry City.

“People have been supporting Derry City all their lives, 50, 60 years now. There are families going, and then there's also the young ultras or whatever you would call them and it's just that different dynamic that’s between the various supporters and the dynamic between the supporters and the club.

“So, we were trying to work out, how would you do something that would explore this and we tried to create a stage show that would celebrate everything that's great about Derry City, everything that's great about being a Derry City supporter, but also use theatre to create a discussion tool around those issues between traditional supporters and maybe the new breed of supporter that has appeared in recent years.

"It highlights how much passion that supporters of all ages have for the club and the sort of varying reasons for their passions.”

The life of most football fans is filled with ups and downs as their team’s fortunes can change with one kick of the ball, but for a community club like Derry City, the passion goes beyond the football pitch.

Michael O'Doherty and Pat Lynch from the cast of City Til I Die

“Supporting Derry City is not a fairytale, and life's not a fairytale,” Gareth continued. “There are ups, there's downs, there are good points and bad points, and we're trying to shine a light on those things and then hopefully people can discuss things.

“We're trying to provide an opportunity for everybody to say their point and then maybe you can have a discussion on that. We're talking about it every week.

"Every week there's people talking about flares and fines and security issues or whatever. There's nobody really coming up with a solution or nobody's coming up with a way to discuss it right and come up with a solution. We are probably at a crossroads so where does it go next?

“We are trying to create something where you see that these young people today are Derry City supporters, they are passionate about the club, so how do we work along with them, and how do we work along with other supporters, so that we all understand each other, so that we’re all for that together, for the good of the club in the area, and the city.”

Young people from Longtower Youth & Community Centre, making banners for the forthcoming play, ‘City Til I Die!’.

City Til I Die is A Communities In Transition project funded by The Executive Office.

The show will take place on Tuesday night at 7:30pm at the Longtower Youth & Community Centre. A limited number of tickets are available. Visit Féile Derry on Facebook for more details.