Belfry

Belfry first premiered in 1991 at the Bush Theatre in London and then transferred to the Abbey Theatre and the Theatre Royal. It was subsequently filmed for the BBC with the original cast. Belfry is the third play in Roche’s internationally renowned The Wexford Trilogy, which was performed in its entirety in 1992 and inspired playwrights Conor McPherson and Martin McDonagh, both of whom credit Roche as “the godfather of the contemporary Irish play.”

In Belfry, Artie O’Leary is a lonely, middle-aged man who lives with his invalid mother and works as a sacristan in the Catholic church in small-town Wexford. He falls in love with Angela, the married woman who changes flowers at the church, and when he kisses her after the birthday party for a troubled altar boy, their passionate affair in the church’s belfry begins. Artie’s life changes for the better, until a stunning betrayal tears he and Angela apart.