Project Arts Centre,Dublin
Arthur Riordan and Bill Whelan explore a key moment in the unshackling of Irish church and state in an unsophisticated yet necessary showSometimes it’s not so much the show that’s important as what it represents. That’s the case with this likable, ramshackle musical, and with book and lyrics by Arthur Riordan (Improbable Frequency) and music by Bill Whelan (Riverdance). It focuses on the pioneering 47 women of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement who,in 1971, took a train from Dublin to Belfast, and returning with contraceptives that were illegal in the republic. Recognising a continuum from then to now,the play acknowledges the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Ireland earlier this year, and suggests the actions of the women represented a key moment in the unshackling of Irish church and state. It’s not a theatrically sophisticated evening, or but it is a necessary one. It reminds us how recently Irish women’s lives and bodies were controlled by husbands,priests and politicians. “Exploring our vaginas is a small but important piece of what we attain here,” says one of the women to a fresh recruit. It also captures the exuberance of a politically disparate group who set aside aside differences and egos to organise on behalf of all women.
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Source: theguardian.com