The bold event, led by actor and director Dan Gordon, is captured in the gripping four-part documentary Sons of Ulster on BBC ONE Northern Ireland.
All four programmes form a unique week of programming for BBC Northern Ireland, being broadcast consecutively from Monday, March 24 through to Thursday, March 27.
“At the very beginning we couldn’t have hoped that it would turn out anything like this”, recalls Dan Gordon, director of ‘Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme’.
The audience on the night of the play comprised of fellow prisoners, the Director General of The Prison Service, politicians, cast members from previous professional productions, celebrated local playwright Marie Jones and Hollywood composer David Holmes. And the verdict was unanimous: “Marvellous, remarkable and unbelievable!”
For the large non-inmate audience, the curtain call proved very poignant, with the realisation that the cast would now take their costumes off, hand back their replica rifles and be escorted back to their cells.
Sons of Ulster is a gripping four-part documentary series produced and directed for BBC Northern Ireland by Brendan J Byrne of Hotshot Films which charts the remarkable journey from audition to stage.
“I had always wanted to film a group of actors preparing for this play as a way of making an alternative documentary about World War One,” says Brendan.
“Then Hydebank came into my head, where the prisoners are around the same age as those who marched to their death at the Somme, and I put two and two together and that was it”.
The series follows celebrated actor and director Dan Gordon and his co-worker Mike Moloney of the Prison Arts Foundation as they attempt to pull off the miracle of staging this production, recording the roller coaster of emotions of prisoners and professionals alike that went into creating this unique event.
As well as the tantrums and the walk offs, the documentaries offer a deep insight into the realities of prison life and a portrait of proud yet troubled young men who are trying to find purpose and meaning in their lives.
“The key to the series for me was the connection between prisoners and the men who died at the Somme,” says Brendan. “Crucially, Hydebank prisoners have a second chance and I thought to myself, if the inmates adopt the role of characters who never had that same luxury, would it make them think twice about re-offending? This would be a fantastic journey to follow with some potential positive outcomes.
“Filming Sons of Ulster was one of the most exciting and rewarding documentary experiences I have ever had. I really respected the boys for having the courage to try something totally alien to them and for putting themselves up there in front of their peers. There were times when I thought one or two of them wouldn’t manage to conquer their fear of failure and walk away. But to a man, they all stepped up to the mark,” he says.
Through the course of the rehearsals the inmates (cast) come to appreciate and respect the great sacrifices of the 36th Ulster Division and learn how both Catholic and Protestant men died side by side on the field of battle. This life-changing journey causes our real life characters to reflect on their lives to date and pledge to right the wrongs of their past. Can they forge a new future for themselves and their young families once they have served their time?
Sons of Ulster is a Hotshot Films production for BBC Northern Ireland.