A Long Road from Touring Play to Short Film

In the fall of 2021, Patricia Downey's play Runny Honey, about three incarcerated women, toured around Northern Ireland.

The play went on to win a Theatre Production award in 2022 at the Buxton Fringe Festival and was also performed at the Parliament buildings in Belfast that same year to help launch a new initiative by the Department of Justice. The title Runny Honey is a reference to prison slang for liquid heroin, a form of the drug that is relatively easy to smuggle into jails.

Five years later, the play has morphed into a short film with a different title, Bubble. It is the first film of any kind to be shot within the walls of Northern Ireland's maximum security Maghaberry prison.

(l  to r) Louise Parker, Debra Hill, Claire Cogan

Bubble was unveiled at a private screening this week, June 17th, at the site of Belfast's former Crumlin Jail, which operated from 1846 to 1996 and is now a museum-visitor's center known simply as the "Crum." One aspect that makes the short film unique is the way it was funded.

'The production was made possible through support from the Assets Recovery Community Scheme (ARCS), funded by the Department of Justice, alongside collaboration with the Northern Ireland Prison Service,' the agency explained. 'It represents a powerful full-circle investment, with funds recovered from criminal activity being reinvested into work that examines its consequences and promotes rehabilitation.'

Downey is the artistic director of the Spanner in the Works theater company, an all-female led operation that was started in 1998. The plan is to submit Bubble to film festivals both in Northern Ireland and internationally.

'This was a moving and insightful film which explored women's experience of the justice system,' wrote Connie Eagan. 'As a member of the Justice Committee, I regularly see the positive difference that early and supportive interventions can make on the lives of vulnerable women.'

Added Mark Davenport: 'Although the issues raised are hard-edged, Bubble also contains a lot of Belfast black humor.'

The scene at June 17th "Crum" screening [Facebook]