Andy can’t wait to take Hank and Dominic down under

Andy Moore and the rest of the ‘Chronicles’ cast are currently performing at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, before setting off on a tour of Ireland, Wales and then heading for Tasmania and Sydney during March and April.

A professional actor for the past 11 years, Andy began his acting career by chance when a friend he had been in a band with went for an audition for a role in ‘Energy’ by Rathcoole playwright Gary Mitchell.

“My mate Phil was inside doing his audition and he told them that I was waiting outside and that I could act too. I didn’t know anything about acting, but they were looking for someone to play a drummer in a punk band and I could play drums and guitar so I got the part,” he told the Times.

“I never had any intention of ever getting into acting - it was always music I was into. I just sort of fell into acting by accident, but I love it.”

Now 33 years old, Andy has appeared in a diverse array of theatre productions and has also played roles in a catalogue of short films and several movies, including ‘Omagh’ and ‘Breakfast on Pluto’.

Featuring a cast of some of Northern Ireland’s finest actors, Chronicles of Long Kesh tells the story of the prison - also known as The Maze - from its opening in August 1971 to its closure in July 2000. Based on dozens of interviews with ex-prisoners and prison officers, the play is a powerful but hilarious story of life behind bars.

Following its huge success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the play has toured venues across the UK and Ireland, including London’s Tricycle Theatre, the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and the Everyman Playhouse in Liverpool.

Andy, a former pupil of Abbots Cross Primary and Glengormley High School, plays two roles in Martin Lynch’s smash-hit production - a loyalist paramilitary named Hank and a hypochondriac republican prisoner called Dominic.

“I absolutely love it. We’ve been doing it for two years off and on, and we’ve been everywhere with it. We still have most of the original cast together, so we know each other inside out and we’re a really tight unit. I can’t wait to go to Australia, it’s going to be great,” he said.

Chronicles of Long Kesh, produced by Green Shoot Productions, runs at the Grand Opera House until Saturday, February 12. For ticket information call the box office on 9024 1919 or log on to www.goh.co.uk