Tonight's 'Sorry' night at Tenx9 was extraordinary. What stories, and what an example that one theme can elicit so many dfferent responses.
Here's the wonderful Naomh reading her story.
We heard stories of being sorry for having gone for a massage; feeling sorry for the first and subsequent wives of an abuser; being sorry for having learnt to hate learning; learning to say sorry when you're the imperfect younger sibling of an older sibling; not being sorry one bit, not one little bit, for hating a housemate; not being sorry for biting the new friend who told you that Santa doesn't exist; being sorry for not having been more reckless; being sorry for not having been in love with the person who was in love with you; and being sorry for not having said sorry for defecating in a friend's garden.
As we said - one theme: so many different responses. Thanks to Jason, Mark, Róisín, Preeti, Paul, Naomh, Maria, Áine and Dan. What a wonderful night. Thanks, too, to the wonderful folks in the audience who responded with such warmth and appreciation. And as always, thanks to the delicious people of the Black Box.
One of the stories tonight spoke of abuse and the cycles of violence that so many women are subject to. The Belfast Domestic Violence Partnership site contains links to some of the organisations that provide information and support.
We're delighted to have two - yes TWO! - Tenx9 events in November. The first is on November 19th and the theme is 'grand parents' - this isn't only about grandparents, but also about parents who are grand, or being a grandchild, or being a parent and hoping to learn how to be grand at it - you get it, it's an elastic theme. That's on November 19th at 7.30pm at the Black Box.
The second is in partnership with the C.S. Lewis Festival that is happening for the second year in East Belfast. Our theme for this special Tenx9 is 'East Belfast' and it'll take place at 7pm on Thursday 20th November in Belmont Tower in East Belfast. To come to this, you'll need to book your (free) ticket. More details about the festival here.
You'll find more details about these two events on our Tenx9 events page.