A POPULAR Belfast play is coming to the stage of the Culturlánn next week in a new production of Owen McCafferty's Mojo Mickybo.

The play will be well known to audiences having been made into the hit film Mickybo and Me in 2004. The current production is by Bruiser Theatre Company and will star Belfast actor John Travers (Song For A Raggy Boy) as Mojo and Conor Quinn (Banbridge Town In The County Down) as Mickybo.

Set in 1970s Belfast the story charts the friendship of two nine-year-old boys from both communities who soon become best friends, immune to the current divide engulfing their communities. Their friendship is formed doing the sorts of things all young boys get up to, building huts, spitting from cinema balconies and re-enacting their favourite movie, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'. However, an event comes along which will change the boys' friendship for good.

Bruiser Theatre Company are well known for their fast-paced, energetic, and engaging performances. The play will be directed by Irish Theatre Awards nominated Lisa May.

The award-winning production will also travel across the border to showcase our complex history to mark the 25th anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement.

Director Lisa May said: "We at Bruiser are very excited to be producing Mojo Mickybo. It flies at breakneck speed, is witty, darkly funny and searingly honest; perfect to explore in Bruiser’s bold physical style. To me, it feels like Owen McCafferty’s love letter to Belfast, warts and all, and shows how sectarian anger is so deeply buried into the psyche of those who have grown up during the troubles; it is passed on to generation after generation.

"It's nostalgic yet damning, hilarious yet heartbreaking; Mojo Mickybo is sadly all too relevant for today’s audience, not just in Northern Ireland but around the world.”