Northern Ireland playwright Gary Mitchell brings his play Smiley to the Lyric Theatre for a four-week run on 4th June. The world premiere of Smiley is presented as part of the Lyric’s Vivid Faces season. A crime caper about a group of Belfast misfits who form their own 5-a-side team to try and win a football tournament, but are instead forced to rob the organisers by ex-paramilitaries, this is a true taste of home.

They’re not Leicester City
They’re not even Carrick Rangers
But they’re leaving with the prize money
Whether they win the Cup or not

This witty comedy is directed by the award winning Conall Morrison and stars Michael Condron, Jo Donnelly, James Doran, Roisin Gallagher, Gerard McCabe, Gavin Peden, Kerri Quinn and Tommy Wallace.

Smiley The Lyric

Praised by The Guardian as ‘one of the most talked about voices in European theatre’ Belfast born Gary Mitchell is the recipient of numerous awards including the Evening Standard award for Most Promising Playwright and the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play.

Gary Mitchell said, “I’ve always wanted to write a play that mixes football and comedy with the sense of optimism and progress that you see and feel in Northern Ireland today, and I’m really pleased that Smiley will have its premiere at the Lyric just before the Euros kick off.”

Smiley runs at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre from 4th June – 2nd July and you can click here to book tickets or find out more information.

Laura Caldwell

Author: Laura Caldwell

Hi, I'm Laura. I'm 30 years old and have a degree in Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like origami, reading, jazz, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. I've written for The Big List, Culture NI, Chatterbox and The Echo, as well as writing for BBC Across the Line.