Daring tale of escape brought to life

The legendary tale of John Boyle O’Reilly’s escape from Bunbury will be brought to life on stage tonight at the Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre.

The Trials of John Boyle O’Reilly is a one-man play written and directed by Noel O’Neill from Maverick Theatre Productions and performed by actor Mike Anthony Sheehy.

Fenian historian Peter Murphy did most of the research for the production and was thrilled the play and story of John Boyle O’Reilly would be taken onto the world stage.

“Two or three years ago we had a show called Freedom which was a multimedia thing with images, poetry, story telling, video, all that,” he said.

“Noel O’Neill came down from Perth, saw the show and said he’d like to take to it to another sphere, do a whole drama – I was elated.”

The show will be the first of many, kicking off an international tour stretching from Bunbury to Boston, USA, the start and finish points of O’Reilly’s daring escape.

In the lead up to the show, audiences will also be treated to a brief poetry session by aspiring actor and history buff Lachlan Kelly, 17, who will recite a poem written by Mr O’Neill entitled Sound of Chains.

At the end of the hour-long play, audience members will also have the chance to engage in a Q and A session with the crew and Mr Murphy.