Heritage Lagan Legacy - Greasepaint Eased the Way in the Shipyard

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Byline: BY CHARLIE WARMINGTON

LAGAN Legacy's maritime meanderings have chanced upon an unexpected document. It contradicts the traditional perception of shipbuilding; of huge steel hulks, immense corrugated iron sheds, scaffolding and cranes, with teams of men in caps studiously welding, riveting, hammering and hoisting.

According to the document, it wasn't all the smell of furnaces and the roar of machinery. It was also the smell of greasepaint and the roar of the crowds! The dusty document, dated October 1923, is a souvenir programme for the Queen's Island Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society's first season.

Two shows are on offer: Gilbert and Sullivan's …