A pulsating 30-minute physical dance film, streamed on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s Summerhall Online platform, puts growing up in Northern Ireland at the forefront of the action in East Belfast Boy.

Filmed throughout East Belfast in the summer of 2020, dancer Ryan O’Neil takes us on a thrilling and moving journey to the heart of the city and centres on the experiences they encounter as young men trying to find their way. East Belfast Boy blends together a captivating combination of dance, monologue and video that engages your interest instantly. 

Developed from its initial live performance back in 2015, this new film production enables dancer Ryan O’Neil to bring all of the details of this story to life. O’Neil uses a fusion of different dance styles, mainly contemporary, to navigate through the captivating streets and clubs within Belfast. The addition of filming locations around the area enables us to pick apart the many influences in Northern Irish culture that make up their history. There are some clever interjections of visuals that make this production immersive and align to the script perfectly.  The voice over by Terence Keeley and an updated soundtrack by Phil Kieron definitely help to move this online production at a rapid rate which is easy to follow as a viewer and of which life goes at.

We experience every footstep of Davy’s life in the production, written by Fintan Brady. This young man opens up to us and thrusts us into an area of Belfast that is still strictly Unionist. It isn’t a production that focuses on the troubles, there is enough about that out there but instead we are in the brickwork of the city to discover the history that is just a kick away. There’s certainly more in East Belfast Boy than focusing on him, his friends, and the opportunities that fall at his feet. You are instantly pulled in by the vibrancy of the film, the pulsating soundtrack and the storytelling through movement that O’Neil undertakes.

East Belfast Boy is the beating heart of craft between different platforms. What a gorgeous production from start to finish! 

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Emmie Newitt

You can stream East Belfast Boy until the end of August here.