Oona Doherty

Show & Culture

In "Hard to be soft – A Belfast Prayer", created with composer David Holmes, choreographer Oona Doherty presents a piece that serves as a physical prayer. Composed of four parts, the performance explores men's complex relationship with their own emotions. The piece opens with a solo that appropriates the powerful gestures of young Northern Irish men. In the second act, Oona Doherty paints a portrait of adolescent girls, the "Sugar army", and their daily struggle to be seen and heard. This is followed by a kaleidoscopic sequence on the burdens of masculinity and a final scene celebrating the end of the cycle and rebirth. The piece evokes the fractured memory of Belfast, while being a poetic work of awareness and transmission.