Mitchell - Group! (Belfast, 2026)

Conor Mitchell - Group!

The Belfast Ensemble, 2026

Bob Broad, Conor Mitchell, The Belfast Ensemble, Rosie Barry, Matthew Cavan, Adam Dougal, Darren Franklin, Colette Lennon, Carol Moore, Brigid Shine

The Lyric Theatre - 25th March 2026

*Contains outrageous material*, the promotional information on the website for the Lyric Theatre production of Conor Mitchell's latest work warns us, along with what looks like the complete catalogue of "trigger warnings". Well it wouldn't be a proper Conor Mitchell Belfast Ensemble work if it didn't. Group! is the composer's latest musical and if it causes any offence, it does so with good intentions. Primarily with the intention to delight and entertain, but as with previous works in a variety of musical and theatrical forms, not least Abomination: A DUP Opera and The Headless Soldier, also with the intention of getting the audience out of their comfort zone and confronting subjects most other people steer clear away from.

Good intentions and helping people to confront and deal with difficult times they are going through is part of the agenda of Mitchell's work and here he confronts it head-on. And what better way to air those dark secrets than in a group therapy session, getting a bunch of fucked-up people together in a room and putting it all out there. Sorry for the offensive language - I'm sure Emmet, the 'facilitator' of the group would not approve (and he has 'issues' of his own) - but, like Chris in the group, wearing an ankle tag for stalking who feels his masculinity threatened by the failure of 'Gloria' to acknowledge him and the other women in the group getting preferential treatment - there is no time for any of this 'woke' nonsense, you just have to say things as they are.

Everyone's input is valued and what's said in the room stays in the room after all, but despite a number of sessions in the local community hall there haven't been any real breakthroughs. The group worry nonetheless that whatever dynamic exists between them is going to be upset when a new member is invited to join the 'circle of trust'. Amy would seem to have a rewarding job and a loving partner, but gradually the cracks in her story begin to show and identification with her problems stirs up feelings with the other members of the group. Painful feelings and anger, but surely it will help air those frustrations and open up a path to healing? There are a lot of issues that need venting and Emmet isn't sure the methods employed are strictly orthodox. Well indeed, and as a musical there's nothing orthodox about how Conor Mitchell chooses to express the issues that Belfast people - or just generally people in the modern world still clinging to the past - need to put behind them.

Group! sets the situation for a fun riotous drama, but does it gain anything from being a musical? Well, the nature of the story and how it unfolds provides a clue. It's all about communication (or maybe that should be sowing chaos), and while it could be a play in its own right, Conor Mitchell is a composer and music is his primary method of communication. The first half of the work might not have brought out any immediately catchy numbers as it accompanies the setting of the scene, but Mitchell can't resist the opportunity to throw in the odd swinging leg kicking routine to delight the audience (more like Fly Me to the Moonies here), but as Frank, Jean, Barbara, Chris, and Jackie each find a way to open up and confront their problems, there can be tremendous sensitivity and lyricism in the sentiments, in the phrasing, in the delicate playing and mood, the piano of musical director Bob Broad always catching those most affecting moments just before it hits you with a punchy revelation.

The musical element is clearly integral to the communication of the story, pulling it all together and providing another level of engagement and entertainment, but Mitchell - co-writing with Matthew Hurt - is no slouch either when it comes to expressing his ideas with words. And directing too, since the characterisation and progression of the drama here are exemplary and the all-round singing/acting performances from Rosie Barry, Matthew Cavan, Adam Dougal, Darren Franklin, Colette Lennon, Carol Moore and Brigid Shine ensure that the viewer is totally engaged throughout. There's no Propaganda-like elaborate stage set for this one, but the above named cast, a stack of orange plastic chairs arranged in a semi-circle and a few scattered self-help leaflets are as much as one needs for the purpose of Group!. Having said that, even those elements are pushed to extremes and the lighting and the brilliant choreography routines directed by Paula O'Reilly - all provide the necessary theatrical magic.

And it's magic that works wonders. On its own you might see Group! as a piece of fun light music-theatre entertainment, but it manages nonetheless to confront some challenging aspects of the world we live in today. The reason you can say this with any authority is just by casting your eye over the body of work of Mitchell and the Belfast Ensemble, and see how it manages to be quietly subversive under the guise of popular entertainment. It's an eclectic body of work, the musical (like the earlier Propaganda) proving to be just as a valid and expressive a medium as the composer's work in opera, mass and symphony to communicate subjects that few will express openly. It's his form of group therapy and we are all part of the group; an extended 'Belfast Ensemble' if you like. If that’s not inviting chaos through communication, I don't know what is.

Clearly, part of the lesson in this mass group therapy session is that we should embrace our failings and see them as opportunities for growth, but Mitchell doesn't appear to have any worries on that score. Group! is a resounding success for the Belfast Ensemble, filled with the composer/writer's trademark humour, insight and his unapologetic urge to cause outrage and offence in following the course of his unique artistic expression. It's all in the cause of entertaining and finding a way reconcile all those diverse facets of dealing with our own personal issues in the midst of an increasingly insane world. That’s too much for one work alone, but as part of a diverse body of work, Group! is another wonderful addition to the catalogue. You'd need your head seen if you miss this.

External links: The Belfast Ensemble, Lyric Theatre

Mitchell - Propaganda (Belfast, 2022)

Conor Mitchell - Propaganda

The Belfast Ensemble, 2022

Bob Broad, Conor Mitchell, Joanna O'Hare, Darren Franklin, Rebecca Caine, Matthew Cavan, Oliver Lidert, Celia Graham, Sean Kearns

Lyric Theatre - 15th October 2022

Musicals are not something usually covered in OperaJournal as a rule, but there are exceptions to every rule, and I will certainly make an exception when it comes to Conor Mitchell and The Belfast Ensemble. In fact, there are apparently no rules as far as Conor Mitchell is concerned. Whether it's a symphonic mass, musical theatre, operetta, opera, or some undefinable cross between music, video and texts, Mitchell will use whatever means is best suited to the subject he is dealing with, permitting no distinction between what is high art and what is popular entertainment; all of them vehicles capable of putting across serious messages about social, personal and political issues.

I mean, for a start, when was the last time a Belfast composer wrote a musical? Has there ever even been a musical written by a Belfast composer? New opera is not unheard of here - NI Opera Shorts in 2012 provided a platform for several local composers, and Brian Irvine has had several successful new works produced (Least Like The Other). Mitchell, who also contributed Our Day to NI Opera Shorts, has also made a major impact and stirred up some controversy with the brilliant Abomination: A DUP Opera, but I don't think anyone has had the nerve to imagine that a musical would be the best way to present views on local topical issues.

Not that Propaganda 'A New Musical' deals directly with local issues. Set during the Berlin Blockade and Airlift in 1946/47, it hardly seems in any way connected with contemporary or recent Belfast, but indirectly it very much relates to local and more universal issues. It's not that difficult to see some parallels between Belfast and a city that will have its people divided by a wall as a consequence of the events that take place during this period, so that is at least a starting point for recognition, even though any such reference is not laboured or even made explicit, other than hinted at perhaps in one or two scenes and in the spoken accents.

The reason why it's understated - although understated is perhaps not quite the mot juste for describing any aspect of this production - is that the libretto or storyline keeps things simple and largely on a human level. The plot really involves little more than the difficulties for one family doing whatever is necessary while struggling to survive and keep on the right side of the authorities in a Berlin almost utterly destroyed after the war, living in the Russian sector of the city that is already in a precarious position. For Hanna, that involves being a model for some provocative pictures, although her photographer husband Stanislav/Slavi, has more artistic aspirations.

Even in that there is clearly some personal commentary on questions of popular entertainment and art, and that is reflected in the music, which bounds along with big melodies that would grace any great American musical. It is however actually also subtly layered, so you will hear Russian composers referenced and even Irish lilts that suggest other connections. There is something perhaps ironic with the opening 'New York, New York'-like swing of 'Like What You See, Boys?' being applied to war-torn Berlin (if you can make it there, you can definitely make it anywhere), but that opening song already reveals layers in the human struggle and freedom of sexual expression against repressive laws that is teased out in Hanna and Slavi's relationship problems and elsewhere.

There's definitely nothing romaticised about dressing up these personal, social and political differences in catchy memorable melodies. The central love story was born out of difficult circumstances, it lives through difficult circumstances and it ends in difficult circumstances. But change does occur over the course of the drama in the central figure of Hanna, who asserts the determination of the individual to refuse to submit to power of social, political and gender expectations and accept that the circumstances of her position should involve any compromise of her integrity. It's more than that even, Hanna in a way refusing to live the lie that she is the photographer to save Slavi, but becoming confident enough to choose her own way forward.

What is particularly brilliant about Propaganda is the way that Mitchell uses the format of the musical - as a popular entertainment with wonderful songs - as an almost subversive undercurrent to draw out these other underlying layers and issues. You could just enjoy this as a historical entertainment and it works brilliantly on that level, or you can dig deeper if you want. And as ever, Conor Mitchell fearlessly provides plenty of provocative material and is not afraid of courting controversy to make serious, relevant and meaningful social and political points. One scene even relates the struggle for Irish independence with the socialist struggle of Soviet Russia, with huge Soviet banners, the singing of the Russian national anthem, and large projections of Uncle Joe Stalin dominating the stage.

The production and stage design is critical in getting across both these elements, presenting the human story taking place against the backdrop of huge adversarial forces. The production design is simply just stunning. The central home of Slavi, Hanna and her mother is on a raised stage on a framework of scaffolding, representing very much that they are an island in the ruin of Berlin, while all around is the might and threat of Russia. Despite the adherence to period costumes and some projected footage and announcements, it still feels very relatable and applicable to anyone from Belfast who has struggled to assert their own identity within an intolerant society.

The writing, the music and the stage production are all top notch, and with Bob Broad conducting the impressive Belfast Ensemble orchestra everything flows beautifully between the music and drama. The singing and delivery is the other critical element that contributes to the success of Propaganda in its opening run at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Everyone gives an outstanding and fully committed performance, with Joanna O'Hare evidently carrying much of the duties in the central role of Hanna. It's very much an ensemble piece without a single weak element, but I was also impressed with Rebecca Caine as Hanna's mother, Magdalene von Furstenberg, who was perhaps the one true operatic voice on the stage. Just to show that this is by no means essential, actor and drag artist Matthew Cavan - who despite appearing in many Belfast Ensemble productions is not usually noted as a singer - was just superb here, singing with conviction and bringing personality and personal character to the role of Gerhardt.

As primarily an opera review site, I have nonetheless previously praised the Belfast Ensemble for being the true progressive musical force in Belfast, willing to push boundaries that NI Opera was failing to do in the post-Oliver Mears years, as they turned away from opera in favour of musicals at the Lyric Theatre like Sweeney Todd and Kiss Me Kate. Ironically, while opera is back on the NI Opera agenda, the scheduling of one opera a year - La Bohème in 2021 and La Traviata in 2022 - even with high production values (and equally high ticket prices) are by no means signs of a superior art form pushing a progressive musical direction. It's again the Belfast Ensemble and a musical at the Lyric Theatre this time that shows real artistic creativity and imagination.

Links: Lyric Theatre, The Belfast Ensemble