Theatre Review - Between Trees and Water

Unitarian Church, Cork

Although this play is about an illegal abortion that went wrong, the word ‘abortion’ isn’t used until about three quarters of the way into the show. And when it comes to the mother of a 25-year old Cork woman trying to find a way to talk about an older married man’s sexual relationship with her daughter, she uses the term “making free with my daughter”.

Set in 1939, this true story uses euphemisms to describe uncomfortable realities. But there is no escape from the grisly details of a young woman’s messy abortion in a lodging house. The play uses documentary material, witness statements, court depositions and newspaper articles from the court case about the tragic fate of the woman. Recorded bleeps are used to blot out names and most locations in Cork that would identify the key players and the crime scene.