Co-produced with Prime Cut, The Border Game has proven a huge success as it began its tour of Ireland at the Lyric theatre this August.

Written by award-winning writers Michael Patrick and Oisín Kearney, The Border Game is a uniquely original play that evokes a range of emotions.

The two-person play is symbolic as the stage displays two fields divided with a broken fence. We, as the audience, soon realise the fence represents where the border partitions the land.

Tranquil sounds echoed the room as the audience took to their seats, the sounds of the farm ringing as the lights dim.

The play begins in a light-hearted, comical fashion with Sinéad working on the farm about to repair the fence when a half-naked, hungover Henry appears much to Sinéad’s surprise. 

Cat Barter and Patrick McBrearty play the two ex-lovers Sinéad and Henry. Laughter fills the room as the two speak for the first time since their break-up and bicker like an old married couple and it isn’t long before Henry too must help mend the fence. As the play progresses, the two realise that rebuilding the fence is not the simple task it initially seemed. 

The border acts as the third person in this play, and the two main characters starkly contrast one another in more areas than one.

The two exchange stories of the land and their own shared memories in a hilarious manner through various accents and impressions. Sinéad from a Nationalist background and Henry from a Unionist one, the satirical double act speak about the past and of more recent divisions with the border always at the centre of conversation. 

Directed by Emma Jordan, the play reflects on the 100 years of the border, and Sinéad and Henry illustrate how they are impacted by it, being from two different sides of the community living along it.

The course of the play changes once the two speak of the past, of politics and a darker theme emerges as they describe how they have been impacted by the violence which transpired. They are reminded of the fact that being together was seen as a political act. 

This is a must-see production and enables viewers to reflect about the border and the land in a way which hasn’t been seen on stage before.

The play continues its tour of Ireland in September and October, locations can be found here.