About this item
Highlights
- Rural Suffolk, 1759.
- About the Author: Lucy Kirkwood is a British playwright and screenwriter whose plays include The Welkin; Mosquitoes; The Children; Chimerica (Olivier Award for Best New Play, Evening Standard Best Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); NSFW; small hours (co-written with Ed Hime); Beauty and the Beast (with Katie Mitchell); Bloody Wimmin, as part of Women, Power and Politics; it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now (John Whiting Award); Hedda; and Tinderbox.
- 96 Pages
- Drama, Women Authors
Description
About the Book
A trenchant examination of justice and power from the award-winning writer of The Children.Book Synopsis
Rural Suffolk, 1759. As the country waits for Halley's Comet, Sally Poppy is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of twelve matrons are taken from their housework to decide whether she's telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. With only midwife Lizzy Luke prepared to defend the girl, and a mob baying for blood outside, the matrons wrestle with their new authority, and the devil in their midst.
Review Quotes
"A fiercely pertinent drama for our time."
-- "Metro""Kirkwood's dramatic, highly articulate vision transcends...her voice is not only powerful but very much her own."
-- "Variety""Thumpingly great. Kirkwood is a genius."
-- "Daily Mail""Very funny, brutally honest and smartly irreverent."
-- "Broadway World""Witty and dazzling. A thing of beauty."
-- "The Upcoming""A mighty new play: magnificent in its scope, depth and intricacy."
-- "Financial Times"
"Ambitious, gripping and richly textured."
-- "The Stage"
"Brilliant, brave, bold and intelligent."
-- "Whats on Stage"
"A fiercely pertinent drama for our time."
"Kirkwood's dramatic, highly articulate vision transcends...her voice is not only powerful but very much her own."
"Thumpingly great. Kirkwood is a genius."
"Very funny, brutally honest and smartly irreverent."
"Witty and dazzling. A thing of beauty."
"A mighty new play: magnificent in its scope, depth and intricacy."
"Ambitious, gripping and richly textured."
"Brilliant, brave, bold and intelligent."
About the Author
Lucy Kirkwood is a British playwright and screenwriter whose plays include The Welkin; Mosquitoes; The Children; Chimerica (Olivier Award for Best New Play, Evening Standard Best Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); NSFW; small hours (co-written with Ed Hime); Beauty and the Beast (with Katie Mitchell); Bloody Wimmin, as part of Women, Power and Politics; it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now (John Whiting Award); Hedda; and Tinderbox. She won the inaugural Berlin Lee UK Playwrights Award in 2013.