Martin Lynch is a playwright and theatre director from Belfast.
Martin Lynch | |
|---|---|
| Born | Martin Lynch 1950 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Playwright, theatre director |
| Notable works | Dockers |
Martin Lynch was born in Gilnahirk, Belfast in 1950. He left school at 15 and became a cloth cutter until 1969, when he became a full time organiser for the Republican Clubs. In 1976, he organised a tour of community centres with John Arden’s Non-Stop Connolly Show. This inspired Lynch to write plays himself.[1]
He co-founded the Turf Lodge Fellowship Community Theatre in 1976. Over the next five years, he wrote a series of plays including We Want Work, We Want Bread (1977), They’re Taking Down the Barricades, What About Your Ma is Your Da Still Workin’?, and Roof Under Our Heads.[2]
He then worked as writer in residence with the Lyric Theatre (Belfast). His most famous play produced there was Dockers (1981), a recreation of working class life in Belfast’s Sailortown district. This was followed by The Interrogation of Ambrose Fogarty (1982), Castles in the Air (1983), and Minstrel Boys (1985).[3] Lynch's plays have been performed throughout Ireland and in the UK, Europe and the USA.[4]
Lynch has also been co-ordinator of the Northern Ireland Community Arts Forum since 1998.[5]