Oscar-winning father and daughter team, Terry and Oorlagh George were reunited last night with actor Conleth Hill, star of The Shore, who is on stage at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. The film director and producer were keen to see Conleth who is in the final few days of his run in Uncle Vanya at the Lyric.
The Oscar winners came to see the play at the Lyric and brought their coveted gold statuettes along with them to show Conleth who helped make the short film, The Shore, such a hit.
The pair arrived home on Monday from the USA and are having a packed week of celebrations before they jet back to America this weekend.
However, Terry George, a native of Belfast, who has a home in Coney Island, near Killough where the movie was filmed, said he was keen to meet everyone who made the film a success.
“It’s great to come home and to visit everyone who made the film possible,” said Terry. “Conleth is a superb actor and we are looking forward to his performance in Uncle Vanya tonight. He was amazing in The Shore, as were the other cast members, and the play has had rave reviews.”
Oorlagh George said they were delighted to come and support the vibrant arts scene in Northern Ireland.
“This is our first visit to the new Lyric,” she said. “It’s a wonderful building and we are delighted to support Conleth in his run in Uncle Vanya. This is the first chance Conleth will have had to hold the Oscar trophies. The Lyric is clearly an important nurturing ground for local talent on both stage and screen.”
Indeed there are many familiar faces from the film industry currently on stage and in rehearsal at the Lyric Theatre – Northern Ireland’s only full-time producing theatre – which is evidence of the stimulating effect stage and screen have on each other.
Both Conleth Hill and actor Kerr Logan star in HBO’s production Game of Thrones and while Conleth is on stage in Uncle Vanya, Kerr is rehearsing for the Lyric’s Titanic production White Star of the North.
At a drinks reception before curtain-up in the Lyric’s new Café Bar overlooking the Lagan, Kerr and fellow actor Andrew Simpson greeted the Oscar winners.
Fresh from appearing in the eagerly-awaited Good Vibrations film, Andrew and Kerr are two young actors to watch as they make their debut in the Lyric.
Andrew has already starred alongside two Oscar-winning actresses Cate Blanchett and Dame Judi Dench in the 2006 film Notes on a Scandal.
Rosemary Jenkinson’s powerful play, White Star of the North embarks upon its maiden voyage at the Lyric Theatre from 24 March and looks at how events at home and abroad in 1912 altered the course of one Belfast family’s life forever.
It was specially commissioned by the Belfast Titanic Company with funds provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to celebrate the centenary of two seismic events in Belfast’s history – Titanic and the Ulster Covenant.
Tickets are available for both Uncle Vanya and White Star of the North and can be booked online at www.lyrictheatre.co.uk or by phoning the Lyric Theatre on (028) 9038 1081.