The Stage

NI stage smoking ban inflames theatre industry

Published Tuesday 26 June 2007 at 14:55 by Michael Quinn

Northern Ireland’s theatre companies have been left reeling by an abrupt change of mind by health minister Michael McGimpsey about exempting them from the region-wide ban on smoking in public venues that came into effect on April 30.

Expectations had been high that McGimpsey, a previous arts minister in an earlier administration, would overturn the ban on smoking on stage in the region’s theatres. But during a debate on the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill he threw out a tabled exemption because “performers smoking on stage would undermine the smoke-free legislation”.

The reiteration of the ban has angered Northern Ireland’s theatre companies and playwrights, fearful of the consequences for future productions.

Michael Diskin, executive director of Belfast’s Lyric Theatre, who had to ask Brian Friel for a rewrite of two scenes for their current revival of Dancing at Lughnasa, said the ban “will prevent companies from being able to deal with a range of plays in the way they need to be dealt with” and claims it needs to be reconsidered.

“I’m perfectly happy with a smoking ban but the health lobby treated this as a moral rather than a health issue and I don’t understand why the established precedent of herbal cigarettes wasn’t considered as a viable option,” he added.

In the Republic of Ireland, where a nationwide smoking ban was introduced in 2004, theatres have the option of using herbal cigarettes.

Playwright Owen McCafferty, whose Scenes From the Big Picture is to receive its Irish premiere in September, said the ban will have a “disastrous” effect on the revival of his award-winning play. He commented: “It’s not a health issue, it’s censorship. You can put on stage every form of debauchery you can think of, but you now can’t show characters smoking. It’s absurd.”

Michael Poynor, spokesman for the Northern Ireland Theatre Association, confirmed that “no official approach” was made to the umbrella organisation by the Department of Health prior to the ban but said it was “very likely that the issue will be raised by our members and will undoubtedly need to be looked at again”.