Maryland script-in-hand readings
Lucy Kirkwood’s ‘howl of a play’ gets Edinburgh performances
Lucy Kirkwood’s Maryland, written in response to the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, is to get two script-in-hand productions in Edinburgh, at Southside Community Centre this Sat 20 Nov 2021 and at the Traverse the following week.
Hilary Spiers is directing a multi-cultural, multi-generational cast of 20 at the two Southside readings, at 7pm and 8.30pm. Casting is yet to be announced for the Traverse readings which will be directed by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir on Wed 24 (7pm) and Thurs 25 (1pm & 7pm).
Maryland is described by Lucy Kirkwood as ‘a howl of rage’, written at great speed to try to express in dramatic form how she – and so many others – feel about a culture of violence against women.
Speaking of the original production at the Royal Court, she said: “This play was for many years a private conversation with myself. The horrific murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa this year have galvanised me into making it public.
“I hesitate to even call it a play when it is simply a howl, a way of expressing what I feel about a culture of violence against women, but I am sharing it because I wonder if it might express a little of what other people feel about it too.”
Hilary Spiers says it is “a gauntlet thrown down to society to tackle violence against women. It is uncompromising, brutal, necessary.”
She adds: “Women from all over Edinburgh, of all ages and cultures, are coming together to bring this play to as wide an audience as possible. And if not now, then when?”
Safety is a human right
Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir said: “Safety is a human right, or it should be. Yet in 2021 we feel fundamentally unsafe. A play won’t change that but this event is not just about a play. It’s about what culture can bring to the table in educating our sons and uniting our daughters.
“The violence is not fiction but maybe fiction can help end it. This is a vigil. A protest. A cry for change. It starts small, but we hope it grows and grows.”
Both productions will donate all ticket income to local charities supporting survivors of abuse and violence: Southside’s will go to Rape Crisis Edinburgh and the Traverse’s to Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Shakti Women’s Aid.
Listings
Maryland by Lucy Kirkwood
Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson Street EH8 9ER
Produced by Hilary Spiers, supported by Art27scotland
Sat 20 Nov 2021
Two performances: 7pm, and 8.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED
Produced by Traverse Theatre Company
Wed 24, Thurs 25 November 2021
Evenings: 7pm; Matinee Thurs: 1pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
ENDS
