Now almost 24 years on, the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster will host THE BOMB – a play based on the unlikely meeting between Patrick Magee, the bomber, and Jo Berry, the daughter of one of his victims. GREG
LAMBERT meets actors PAUL DODDS and JANYS CHAMBERS, who play the terrorist and the woman whose relationship has shaped this xtraordinary
production.

ON the day of the Brighton bombing, Paul Dodds was 11 years old.

"I remember seeing the pictures on TV," the softly-spoken actor recalls.

"It's now part of the British psyche. The sight of that big hole in the
middle of the hotel.

"The image of Norman Tebbit being lifted from the rubble – that's the one everyone remembers."

For viewers switching on to breakfast television that morning, the sight of the Trade and Industry secretary – moaning in pain as he was extracted, half-naked, from the wreckage of The Grand Hotel – was startling to say the least.

The Brighton bomb certainly had a massive impact on Mr Tebbit's life. Although he made a full recovery, his wife Margaret suffered injuries that left her confined to a wheelchair.

Peace campaigner Jo Berry was another whose life was changed
forever by the explosion.

Jo's father Sir Anthony Berry, Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, was killed in the bombing. In an attempt to gain something positive from his death, Jo campaigned for years to meet the man who killed her father – the IRA bomber, Patrick Magee.

Magee, who was released in 1999 under the terms of the Good Friday agreement after originally receiving eight life sentences, met Jo for the first time in November 2000. Theirs was a highly-publicised meeting and one for which Jo was heavily criticised.

Many people simply could not understand or empathise with her. How could she? How could anyone meet the man who murdered their father?

This is one of the crucial questions 'The Bomb' seeks to answer.

"This is not a political play," Paul stresses. "It's about relationships and how they can be affected by this massive event. It's about how we deal with conflict and how we move forward."

Janys Chambers, who plays opposite Paul in The Bomb, is equally enthused by the challenge of appearing in such a highly-charged production. "It focuses in one on small event to come out of a huge,
historical event," she say.

"They are fantastic role. The play is full of action and emotion. It's not a dark play, there's a lot of optimism to it."

In preparation for the roles of Elizabeth and Ned – the main characters in The Bomb who are based on Jo Berry and Pat Magee – Janys and Paul watched documentary footage of the Brighton Bombing, its aftermath, and events leading up to and including that first meeting between Jo and Pat.

Miss Berry and Magee have since met on numerous occas-ions.
One such meeting was in Lancaster, where they sat and watched Paul and Janys rehearse for The Bomb and discussed the dialogue with them.

It was a meeting Janys describes as "extraordinary" and one that Paul – in order to get inside the mind and motivations of Pat Magee – thought deeply about.

"Before I met Pat, I had reconciled myself to the fact that here was a man who had convinced himself that he was right (in planting the bomb)," says Paul.

"Meeting him, and taking on this role forced me to ask questions about the political context and it's forced me to change my perception to some degree.

"It's taught me to see a man for who a man is – to see him as a
person and to come to an understanding about his position and not to judge him simply on the events that he was caught up in."

It is inevitable that local people will have strong political and moral
opinions on Pat Magee and his attempt to kill Mrs Thatcher and her Government – especially as the man himself will return to Lancaster, alongside Jo Berry, to give a talk and answer audience questions after the performances on October 13 and 14.

But Janys says: "I think people from both sides of the political
spectrum should come and see this play and I would love to hear what they think about it.

"Young people who don't even know about the history should come too because it's a great story."

Dukes director Joe Sumsion concludes: "This play is not about whose side are you on.

"It's gripping like a thriller, a challenging story, and a play about two people who have done something extraordinary."

'Extraordinary' is certainly a recurring word used by those involved in The Bomb. The Brighton Bombing was indeed an extraordinary event, and a subject which has been extraordinary for the actors, writer and director to research.

And for those who go to see 'The Bomb', it is bound to be an extraordinary experience.

Nominated for two Theatrical Management Awards, The Bomb – written by Kevin Dyer and directed by Joe Sumsion – will be the first in-house play to be performed in the Dukes' new theatrical space 'The Round'.

The Bomb also stars Abigail Hood and John Mawson.

Performances begin tomorrow (October 9) and run until October 26. For tickets and information log onto www.dukes-lancaster.org/theatre/
the-bomb or call 0845 344 0642.