It’s 1991 in West Belfast. Despite the bombs, the soldiers, and their husbands being either locked away or killed, Marie, Cassie, and Nora are determined to get on with their lives. That is, until a mysterious young woman turns up on Marie’s doorstep, disrupting their girls’ night out and bringing devastating revelations that threaten to leave their friendships changed forever. Sharply funny, moving, yet never shying from the harsh realities of life during the Troubles, Bold Girls is a celebration of women’s strength under siege.

This new production is being directed by Michael Duke, former Tinderbox Theatre Company (Belfast) Artistic Director, who is originally from County Down, and currently based in Glasgow. The play is returning to Cumbernauld more than 30 years after its first performance here, where the acclaimed original production by the legendary 7:84 company opened in 1990. Touring Scotland in 1991, it also appeared at London’s Hampstead Theatre with a cast including Imelda Staunton and Catherine Cusack. Rona Munro won the ‘Evening Standard’ Most Promising Playwright Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award in 1991, and the play eventually became part of the Scottish school curriculum. Bold Girls has since been re-staged numerous times, including a 1999 production at Cumbernauld Theatre directed by then-Artistic Director Simon Sharkey.