Running time: 60 minutes
This is a dance piece following the life of Bobby Sands who died on hunger strike in the H Blocks in Belfast in 1981. He was striking in order to win back political status for the republican prisoners, in pursuit of the longer-term aim of a united Ireland.
Bobby was a runner as a teenager, and this piece’s starting point is an article on running and racing that he wrote in prison at the end of the 70s. It goes on to consider the long-distance goals of running and resistance. The title refers to a race in the United States that is run in Bobby’s memory.
The show is performed on a 12ft x 6ft running machine. Music is by Guto Puw and the responsive sound environment his score is set into is by Nick Rothwell. The show is bilingual with interviews in English and new work in Welsh by poet Menna Elfyn.
