‘Eclipsed’ shines light on Magdalene scandal

Since setting up in 2006, Galway theatre company Mephisto have rapidly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

The ambitious outfit’s latest production — a timely revival of Patricia Burke Brogan’s 1992 play Eclipsed — kicks off a run in the Town Hall Theatre in Galway tomorrow night.

With its shocking glimpse of life inside the Magdalene Laundries, Brogan’s play electrified audiences when it premiered 21 years ago. Notably, it preceded by a good few years the social outcry that began to surround the laundries from the late 1990s onward. It continues to be Galway native Brogan’s most popular work, and it has gathered awards throughout the world.