Julian Felice launched the full-length version of his play ‘Flavius’ yesterday evening at the John Mackintosh Hall. The play deals with the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of three IRA terrorists in Gibraltar by the SAS in March 1988. The play raises “difficult and provocative questions about how the situation was handled” and relies on detailed research. 

Speaking at the launch, Mr Felice said: “This play tells a story that Gibraltar doesn’t really want to tell. It’s a story that is part of our history but perhaps a part that people are ashamed about. It’s a story that needs to be told about conflict, about violence, about nationalism, colonialism, cover-ups and conspiracy—for me, as a dramatist, this story is like a goldmine.”

Mr Felice explained that the play started life as a one-act work performed in 2013 at the Gibraltar Drama Festival. In 2020, Mr Felice expanded the play into a full-length work as part of a script development programme at a London theatre. Research and development sessions in Middlesex and, more controversially, in Belfast, led to further expansion of the play.

Mr Felice said it was his dream to see ‘Flavius” staged in Gibraltar in the future.

Presenting the book, the Minister for Culture Christian Santos said ‘Flavius’ told “a very important story in the history of modern Gibraltar.” Mr Santos urged people to support local writers and artists as they formed an important part of Gibraltar’s culture and identity.

The book is on sale at local outlets and via Amazon.