A Tribute to Peter Ballance
The Lyric are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Peter Ballance, actor, facilitator and voice coach who had a long history with the Lyric Theatre.
Peter was born in Newry, trained at Central, and on his return to Belfast in the 1990s after a number of years in London, acted in many Lyric productions, including Pictures of Tomorrow (1994), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1994 & 1996), Joyriders (1995), Christmas Eve Can Kill You (2002), Observe the Sons of Ulster (2003) and Shadow of a Gunman (2005).
He worked with many other theatre companies including Rough Magic (Love and a Bottle), Prime Cut (Brilliant Traces with Kathy Kiera Clarke), Tinderbox (Northern Star, Caught Red Handed), National Theatre Studio and OMAC. His Film and Television credits included: Game of Thrones, Shooting for Socrates, Titanic Town, The Bill and he was dialect coach on the mini series Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner. He also starred in Pumpgirl by Abbie Spallen and directed by Carol Moore alongside Geraldine Hughes, Richard Dormer and Packy Lee.
In most recent years Peter was a valued facilitator at the Lyric and a key member of the Lyric Drama Studio team. He taught voice to 10 years of students and worked with them on productions as a very talented dialect coach and acting tutor. In his inimitable way and with his very individual humour, Peter helped scores of students and made a lasting impression on many of us.
We send our deepest condolences to Peter’s family, and to his many friends, students, and colleagues.
