By Conor O’Neill
Photography Courtesy of Strand Arts Centre Staff
Alice McCullough, ‘Free As A Word’, Belmont Bowling Club, Eastside Arts Festival, July 26th, 2026
Written by culturecrushniblog
By Conor O’Neill
Photography Courtesy of The Strand Arts Centre
What a nice venue The Belmont Bowling Club turned out to be. A little square of serenity cloistered in the tree-lined suburbs of East Belfast. Alice was joined by collaborator John Moriarty on guitar, and British Sign Language interpreter, Heather Martin. The clubhouse holds about 150 to 200 people, and most tables were full of appreciative fans of poetry, song and storytelling.
It’s Dublin born, Belfast native since 2009, John Moriarty who takes to the stage shortly after 7.30 pm. Moriarty is not only a fine musician and singer, but a storyteller with a whimsical sense of the absurd. As he records a loop of acoustic guitar through a small pedal board, and delicious little touches of harmonics on the 7th, 9th and 12th frets, Moriarty introduces us to his opening song he says is about love. We collectively sit back and wait expectantly for a lament of love unrequited, a heart broken, or a perfect Hollywood ending involving rushes to departure lounges and the usual rigmarole, Moriarty throws us a curve ball with a fantastic little number about his love for his ‘free to a good home’ recliner chair. Said chair was a seat he found up the Ormeau Road during his student days when he first came to Northern Ireland. With a chorus of ‘me and my recliner, we go way, way back’.
This sets the tone for the evening. A safe wee night in a bowling club may not be so safe after all. The Dubliner’s patter lulls and thrills as he admits, ‘Belfast was just somewhere we’d heard of, sort of like Belgrade’. He knew he’d fit in with his new surroundings when a cycling accident involving a brand new two litres of milk spilled all over his bike. A car driver he nimbly passed a few minutes earlier quipped in a pure Belfast accent: ‘Black tea tonight, mate?’.
After 20 minutes of song and storytelling, John Moriarty presents to us the star of the show, Alice McCullough. I’ve interviewed Alice twice, followed her career from afar and spent many YouTube moments watching her brilliance with the spoken word, but no amount of YouTube can really prepare one for the inspired talent that she is live. Yes, this is my first show. In an azure blue dress, she appears on stage, and seems somewhat nervous. These nerves disappear after a brief introduction and ‘Thanks for coming’ before she settles into what she does best. The lines flow from this magician of words with ease, and hit the target with precision. McCullough’s personality shines through with each cleverly sculpted couplet.
In my haste I forgot to write down the name of the first poem, but lines like: ‘I am the starfish that learned to read, I am a big slab of raspberry-ripple, I’m the ticket to Disneyland, I am the elastic band in flight, I am what’s yet to be…’ are stamped immediately on to the soul. And to hear these words in a Belfast accent is truly a thing of wonder.
Alice is fearlessly proud of her Belfast heritage, especially of the East. A vein that flows through every moment of the night. The audience sits back in wonder. Spellbound by the Queen of lyrical talent who surprises and fixates on the macro and the micro, beginning a new piece with a Van Morrison quote: ‘I was born before the wind, also younger than the sun’… minutes later she utters: ‘I once held the door open for Sean Bean’.
We hear of her time in Clown School, how after the death of her former teacher in France she organised over 300 clowns to simultaneously break plates all over the globe in his memory.
Her poem Breaking Noises could be argued to be a reaction to the PTSD of Northern Ireland’s recent history: ‘We should all break plates… let wreckage reign’.
McCullough goes off on tangents, this is all part of the experience, a sign of a brilliant magpie-mind moving from fixation to totally unrelated imaginings. It is all so beautiful to watch. Hers is a voice of empowerment, a voice of uprising. I was half expecting to hear the peace of The Belmont’s event room silence punctured by the sounds of polished pint and wine glasses shattering to smithereens against its perfectly painted walls.
The first half ends with Moriarty joining Alice on stage for an audience-rousing version of Van Morrison’s Gloria, with the audience enthusiastically joining in. A celebratory ending to the first 45 minutes.
Photo Courtesy of Tremaine Greer
McCullough’s tangents continue with Yeats and Beyoncé quotes before lamenting on the Albert Bridge’s starling population, who were once driven away by light pollution, thankfully I think that matter has been addressed. Next up Angels, a poem about her long time fascination with East Belfast writer, C.S Lewis. Alice moves effortlessly from poem to song to natural storyteller. The room really is in awe. Lines like ”I’m collecting words like BFG dreams’ take the breath away.
She recalls her 40th birthday, where she says, ‘I had a small party in a very big room.’ She blushes when she tells us that punk legend Terri Hooley remarked, ‘Alice McCullough has notions above her station’. To many even to be known by the God Father of the Northern Ireland punk scene would be to us mere muggles such a form of recognition, Alice calmly informs us that she has ‘oceans of notions’, and long may they continue.
Moriarty joins McCullough on stage again for more effort free chit-chat before a duet of David Gray’s Babylon. Alice, in the interview with this website only a few days before this performance said that music and singing is becoming a bigger part of her show. Her voice is strong and full of raw emotion.
The evening ends with Moriarty, Alice, and a fair few of the crowd singing James’ Sit Down. The line, ‘those who feel they’re touched by madness, sit down next to me’ seems apt for a performer who states during the show that she has been ‘the poster girl for Bipolar Disorder.’ I once read, and I’m paraphrasing here: ‘Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light’. Regarding Alice McCullough I’m also reminded of the Japanese practice Kintsukuroi, where broken vases are mended with gold, making them all the more interesting and telling of their history.
You may have missed this stunning show, but Alice, with another musician, John McGurgan are to play the Féile at the Bog Meadows Nature Reserve on Monday 3rd August. Ticket are available here:
Alice is also doing a full run at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. To support Alice and help her along her way she has a Just Giving page. The link for this is as follows:
John Moriarty has written a new play called , ‘We’re Friends, Right? It is to be performed at The Accidental Theatre on Wednesday, August 5th at 8pm. Contact the Accidental Theatre for details.
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