Carmel Winters' play bears Witness to power of the theatre

Carmel Winters: “I have a responsibility to people as a storyteller to not shy away from experiences that need to be aired.”

Writer and director Carmel Winters’ play, Witness, will premiere on August 12 at Bank House, Whiddy Island, as part of the Blood in the Alley West Cork Fit-Up Festival which tours plays from contemporary Irish writers, visiting 11 venues over the summer. Winters wrote Witness a few years ago. It’s a one-woman show with two characters, a 29-year-old mother and her 14-year-old son.

It’s a demanding play for an actor. Winters put it aside thinking it unlikely that she would find someone capable of being convincing as the two characters. She finally cast Kate Stanley Brennan, who played a Bolivian nanny in Winters’ play Best Man which was staged at the Everyman (where Winters is writer-in-residence) as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival in June.

“Kate is one of those actresses who completely transforms the roles she’s given. There are moments in Witness where you are absolutely convinced that a teenage boy is in the room with you. Every cell in Kate’s body in involved in that transformation. It’s a massive ask of an actor.”

Based in part on Winters’ award-winning feature film Snap, it involves the abduction of a child by the boy. “And I think it’s fair for audiences to know that the play deals with sexual abuse. It deals with it sensitively and honesty and I think, very generously and lovingly. There is pain in the play. But we’re going to create a potent transformative experience.”

Winters doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects. Her play B for Baby confronted the issue of the sexuality of people with disabilities.

“I have a responsibility to people as a storyteller to not shy away from experiences that need to be aired. Through sharing experiences, people can feel a burden being lifted. It can generate insight and lead to some healing.”

The mother in Witness is a karaoke performer called Shannon. Her son did something that shocked the nation. She has agreed to give a public account of what happened and why. “She wants to set the record straight by dealing with the distortion of certain facts that have been in the public domain.”

As the play progresses, Shannon reveals herself and “lets us look into her heart”. Meanwhile, her son relives his own history and the past that his mother denies.

Winters says that she is asking audiences to “go on a very big journey. The ending is quite beautifully tender. People are going to see a fantastic performance and a gripping story. They will almost certainly cry.”

Living in Ballydehob, Winters is delighted to be premiering ‘Witness’ at the Fit-Up Festival. Its tour will take in Goleen, Kilcrohane, Ballydehob, Sherkin Island and Allihies.

“A preponderance of the country’s arts budget goes towards Dublin-based production,” says Winters. “The West Cork Fit-Up Festival is an absolute jewel in the theatre calendar. It’s an opportunity for local people to see quality work.

“Local audiences aren’t remotely as jaded as city audiences might be. The local audience becomes reconnected with the true spirit of theatre. They’re a gift to the production.”

* www.bloodinthealley.ie