ACTORS Conor Grimes and Alan McKee have finally come face to face with Gerry Adams, more than three decades after providing his voice on BBC television and radio at the height of the broadcasting ban.
The actors met the former Sinn Féin President at party headquarters in Belfast, ahead of the premiere of their brand-new comedy 'I Was the Voice of Gerry Adams', opening later this month at the Waterfront Hall.
Grimes and McKee famously found themselves at the centre of one of the most unusual chapters in broadcasting history when, as young Belfast actors in the early 1990s, they were hired to dub the voices of representatives of Sinn Féin and other organisations whose voices were banned from UK television and radio.
The new comedy is inspired by the real-life experiences of Grimes, McKee and a host of Belfast jobbing actors who found themselves in unexpected demand during the ban.
When broadcasters moved quickly to work around restrictions by using local performers to voice interviews, the two then-fledgling actors secured a place on the dubbing roster and suddenly found themselves in the midst of a media frenzy in the run-up to the 1994 ceasefire.
For the first time since collaborating with Martin Lynch on The History of the Troubles (Accordin’ to my Da), the trio reunite to tell the hilarious and surreal story of how the lives of Belfast actors were turned upside down when they were hired daily to voice Adams’ words.
'I Was the Voice of Gerry Adams' combines Grimes and McKee’s trademark storytelling and sharp observations as they play a multitude of characters, taking audiences on a side-splitting journey through censorship, fame and one of the most unusual acting jobs ever created.
Conor Grimes and Alan McKee said in a statement: “We’ve joked for years about what we’d say if we ever actually met Gerry Adams, so to finally come face to face after 32 years was brilliant. At the time, we were just jobbing actors trying to make a living, and suddenly we were at the centre of this bizarre broadcasting workaround.
“So much has changed since then, and it feels like the right moment to tell the story, keeping it light and remembering just how mad those days really were.”
The comedy premieres at the Waterfront Studio, Belfast, running from February 25 to March 14. Tickets are on sale now at www.waterfront.co.uk
