For many years in Ireland, it was illegal for the people of Ireland to sing the name of their country, and so, in protest, people would refer to Ireland as a woman, Roisin. The question has, for many years, been what of the sons of Roisin, made famous by singer/songwriter/poet Luke Kelly (For What Died the Sons of Roisin?) In this simple yet powerful one woman show, The Daughters of Roisin, playwright Aoibh Johnson asks but what about the daughters of Roisin?
The young woman is dressed in a plain white night gown, her only set piece a wooden chair and her stage is littered with white clothes. The feeling in the Pleasance Bunker is ice cold. It’s clear from the beginning that there is something wrong here, in this place that we are transported to, but what is only made clear as we hear her story. Locked away from the rest of the world, shunned for her “sickness”, we slowly learn that she is just a young girl who fell pregnant. The shadow of shame hangs over us all as she addresses us, detailing how she came to be with her “sickness”. She becomes increasingly irate as the confusion, despair and loneliness overwhelm her.
The way in which Johnson confronts Irish Catholicism, particularly its role in this cruel part of Irish history, is piercingly clear. Her performance as the young woman is perfectly pitched and left me in tears by the end. Cahil Clarke’s direction is expertly executed and manages to ensure that we never lose the resilient, revolutionary spirit of the work. It truly is a beautiful piece of theatre.
The Daughters of Roisin is on in Bunker Two, Pleasance Courtyard from July 31 to August 25 at 13:00.
Buy tickets here.