Rogue Encounters Showcase: Brain Injury Matters Ensemble

The Unusual Suspects are back at The Lyric Theatre on Thursday 3 December, performing Life Upside Down. It's presented by Rogue Encounters in association with Brain Injury Matters, and it's a physical theatre piece that's been four years in the making.

The ensemble has come together through theatre training and the intimate sharing of life experiences, and they've been performing at the Lyric over the last three years, so this isn't their first time on the boards here. The show is staged to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which the UN established to promote the rights, well-being and inclusion of disabled people.

There's a specific aim to this one: it's put on for an invited audience of medical professionals and policy makers, with the intention of provoking discussion about after-care following an acquired brain injury. And it doesn't end when the curtain goes down — the performance is followed immediately by a Q&A with the cast, so the people who've been on stage stay on to talk through the work.

It runs at 14:00 in the Naughton Studio, with a running time of one hour. The Lyric is Northern Ireland's only full-time producing theatre, and since its capital build it's three times the size of its predecessor, with a 389-seat Mainstage, the Naughton Studio, a rehearsal room the size of the main auditorium stage, an education suite, a cafe/bar and a river terrace. The show is at 55 Ridgeway Street, Belfast.