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It has been called West Belfast's Bloody Sunday. Over 36 hours between 9 and 11 August 1971,Ìýsix months before Bloody Sunday in Derry, the Parachute Regiment shot dead 11 civilians in the West Belfast housing estate of Ballymurphy. Those who were killed included the local priest Fr Hugh Mullan, and a 45-year-old mother of 8 children, Joan Connolly.

Theatre has long been used as a consciousness raising device.ÌýJust think of the many verbatim dramas to come out of the Tricycle Theatre in London, including "Scenes from the Saville Inquiry" about Bloody Sunday. But whileÌýthe Derry families got their inquiry and the subsequent apology from PM David Cameron, there has been no apologyÌýfor the deaths in Ballymurphy. The Northern Ireland office has ruled out any public inquiry into the killings akin to the Bloody Sunday Tribunal.Ìý "There were cameras in Derry", ÌýBrenda says. "There were none in Ballymurphy." ÌýWhenÌýFr Daly (later Bishop Edward Daly) lifted his white hankie, a nowÌýiconic image, it was caughtÌýby the photographers and news camera men there. When Fr Hugh Mullan did the same thing inÌýWest Belfast (this time with a white babygro) Ìýno one captured it on camera.Ìý

Now a specially commissioned drama by Brenda Murphy and directed by Pam Brighton is in rehearsal in Conway Mill. It's a very personal thing for the writer. She was 17 years old when she sawÌýthe army start shootingÌý. Her uncle was one of the 11 killed.

While this play is based on true life events, and very personal ones,Ìý MurphyÌýis better known these days for her comic writing, including "A Night with George", about a Belfast woman whoÌýgets to spend a night withÌýmovie star George Clooney.

But theÌýfamilies of the Ballymurphy victimsÌýapproached her on several occasions to see if she would write something. So she listened to their stories, read autopsy reports, salvaged her own memories and has created a play that deals with what happened, and what happened afterwards.

Seeing the young cast rehearsing, runningÌýthe length of the mill, as the shooting happens, is chilling in its intensity. The young guys playing the solidersÌýtake a coffee break while I'm there, a group of them huddleÌýaround the mock up guns. A smaller child comes up and asks "Do you think it's real?"

ThereÌýhas been strong political lobbying for a public inquiry, butÌýwhat canÌýa theatre piece do?Ìý Brenda Murphy feels an apology should be forthcoming.Ìý"It's the least people can expect".Ìý

"Ballymurphy - The aftermath"Ìýis at the Conway Mill from 29th July as part of the Feile an Phobail.