‘Shaped by Industry, Shared with Pride’ events staging in borough

‘Shaped by Industry-Shared with Pride’ – aims to bring our industrial past to the forefront of visitors’ experience in a hands-on-way and events are taking place at various locations along the Coastal Route until Sunday, June 2.

Participative theatre is an exciting new trend where the audience is invited to join in on the performance.

With a rich industrial heritage along the Causeway Coastal Route in the Mid and East Antrim area, combined with the fun of taking part in what working life was like during the 19th to mid- 20th Century, it is set to be a great experience for all involved.

Performances are 15-20 minutes long and prior booking is recommended as each performance is restricted to 15 participants.

Participants should arrive 10 minutes before the performances to register. Performances are free of charge, however, at Whitehead Railway Museum, the standard museum entrance fee applies.

Bespoke participative theatre performances for all ages will unearth the rich industrial past in Carnlough Harbour on May 4 and 5 and Glenarm village on May 5 and 6.

In Carnlough the story is set in the 1850’s when Carnlough’s limestone quarrying industry was at the peak of it’s development. Lady Londonderry, a fabulously wealthy heiress, and owner of industries and property in Carnlough, instructs her Land Agent Richard Wilson to demand payment of rent arrears from her Carnlough tenants. Tenants threaten to rebel against the Lady.

In nearby Glenarm, the story centres on the building of the Antrim Coast road 1832 to 1840 by Scottish Engineer, William Bald, and the provision of a soup kitchen during the ‘Summer without Sun’ in 1816 to 1817, when persistent poor weather caused crop failures and led to a famine. The Glens were quite isolated prior to the Coast road, however the new Coast road opened up new trading opportunities.

Carnlough’s May 4 events will be at: 11am, 12pm, 2:30pm & 3:30pm and on May 5 at: 1pm, 2pm, 4pm & 5pm .(Free entry). The Glenarm events on May 5 will be at: 3pm, 4pm, 6pm & 7pm and on May 6 at: 11am, 12pm, 3pm & 4pm (Free entry).

Other stories will play out at Whitehead Railway Museum on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25 at 10.30am, 11.30am, 2pm and 3pm (Entry fee) and at Flame! Gasworks Museum, Friday, May 31, at 7pm and 8pm; and, Saturday, June 1, at 2pm, 3pm, 7pm and 8pm; and on Sunday, June 2, from 2pm & 3pm (Free entry).

The participate theatre event at Flame! Gasworks Museum event will centre on the story of Sam Gault who was manager of the gasworks between 1967-1987 and brings to life the demanding work that gas workers did in the 60s and 70s, before the gasworks closed in 1987.

The story at Whitehead Railway Museum centres on the 1939 unsolved Whitehead Station robbery.