'Ireland gave me and Philip something to belong to': Caught in the spotlight of the Phil Lynott story
The boy is back in town. After a sell-out run at Vicar Street in April, the ghost of Phil Lynott returns to stages in Dublin and Limerick this week in Moonlight — a rock theatre extravaganza that explores Lynott's artistic genius and the early years of his time with Thin Lizzy in the late 1960s and early '70s.
The actor Peter M Smith stars in the lead role.
'Philip jealously guarded his private life,' says Smith, 'which created a dichotomy for someone so public, someone who made a living from being in the public eye, having to sell his wares publicly. I remember feeling a tremendous sense of pride when I realised that because we shouldn't be judged on anything but our output.'
Smith, who has been heralded for his performance incarnating Lynott, shares striking similarities with the Thin Lizzy frontman, both physically and in his background. Both grew up streets away from each other on Dublin's southside — Lynott in Crumlin, Smith in Drimnagh. Both were raised by single mothers and maternal grandparents, not knowing their fathers.
'When you're raised in our situation, your yearning is always to belong,' says Smith.
'Philip grabbed hold of his Irishness, as I do. No matter where I am in the world, I'm at pains to let people know how Irish I am, even above the fact that I'm black. I don't go around talking about [being black]. I've read books on black consciousness, like Steve Biko's books. I'm very much into black history, like the story of Frederick Douglass, but that's more for my private reading. My real passion is the fact I'm Irish.
'Ireland gave me and Philip something to belong to. He was fiercely patriotic and protective of all things Irish. That bore fruit in a lot of confrontations with journalists who weren't Irish and didn't understand the state of play, shall we say, in Ireland. I'm like that too. I'm quite spiky and defensive about my Irishness. I'm fiercely patriotic. I love being Irish because Ireland has given me something I'll always belong to.'
Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma Live at Vicar starring Eric Bell and Peter M Smith
Lynott, who died in 1986 in hospital of septicaemia and pneumonia aged 36, was born to be a rock star. He walked down the street with a natural swagger. It could be said Smith was born to play Lynott. He has the acting chops. He has a background in music. In 2002, he was a finalist on Popstars: The Rivals (the series which gave the world Girls Aloud).
Smith captures Lynott's spirit uncannily. He got the seal of approval from Lynott's late mother, Philomena, to reprise him on screen, as Smith was earmarked to play Lynott in biopic projects that Neil Jordan and Noel Pearson/Jim Sheridan tried to get off the ground.
'I had extensive discussions with Jim. When we met at auditions, he told everybody else to go home, and sent me into the next room, because there weren't many guys, certainly in their 30s, like me, having the same upbringing and attitude as Philip. I'm a rocker at heart. Jim operates on instinct. He knows his eggs from his eggs.
'So, we were close, but for one reason or another, those biopics didn't happen. Philip's kids were a little bit younger, and their mother didn't want a certain story told in a certain way. These things can happen but now seems to be the right time. Staying away from Philip's private life and looking more at what he's achieved as an artist seems to be doing the trick.
'Philomena was always on board because she wrote the book My Boy, and later an updated, more candid edition. The problem was never Philomena. She was quite the storyteller. Philip's wife wasn't ready to tell the story.
'I understand that. I have daughters. You would want your children to remember your songwriting and not any mistakes you may have made in your life.'
Moonlight features an impressive supporting cast, including Brian Kennedy as Oscar Wilde's ghost and Thin Lizzy co-founder Eric Bell playing himself. Smith and his co-stars are accompanied by a live, four-piece band that rocks out Thin Lizzy hits as well as new, original music.
'Larry Hogan, the musical director, has done a great job in adapting the original music to make it sound seamlessly like Thin Lizzy,' says Smith.
'A lot of hardcore Thin Lizzy fans swore blind we were playing Thin Lizzy B-sides such was the faithfulness of the original music to Lizzy's sound. And those are the hardest people to please.'
Moonlight: The Philip Lynott Enigma returns for four extra dates to Dublin's Vicar Street (June 20-22) and UCH Limerick (June 24)
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