“The Magdalen Whitewash” by Valerie Goodwin received its American debut at the Out of the Loop Fringe Festival and is now on stage at Broken Gears Project Theatre. (Courtesy of Broken Gears)
In my opinion, a powerful story is one of the most important components of a good play – this is the redeeming factor of “The Magdalen Whitewash” currently on stage at Broken Gears Project Theatre.
This play, by Valerie Goodwin, is about the Magdalen Laundries, which were run by the Church and State of Ireland as a place where a family could send their “tainted women.” The young women would give birth to their illegimate children and earn their keep by doing chores until their families returned for them, although this was often not the case. Even if the women should leave, they were branded as “Maggies” and had a difficult time reintegrating.
“Whitewash” focuses primarily on a girl named Mary, a victim of incest. The opening scene is Mary’s daughter coming from America to find her birth mother. The play then rewinds to the days surrounding Mary’s arrival in the convent.
Goodwin said that she was fascinated and appalled by the stories of women like Mary who were institutionalized for a crime that in some cases wasn’t even their own.
“Sometimes I need to write a play,” Goodwin said. “My best feedback was from children of the “Maggies” who saw it [in Dublin] and said ‘thank you for telling my mother’s story.”
To be sure, this play has a powerful story at its core, but Broken Gears’ production is far from polished. With a cast of 18, (some strong actors; others pretty shaky) the small space looks cluttered and scene transitions involve a lot of shuffling on and off stage.
Cassie Bann, Lorina Watts and Lulu Ward shine onstage in this production as “Maggies,” and Lauren Morgan gives a compelling performance as the adult Mary.
One thing that this play does well is give the fathers and sisters who run the convent a sense of humanity despite the inhumane nature of their actions.
The play is a two-act play, but Director Nathan Autrey cut it into one, which might explain the choppy scenes and the difficulty the cast had in building any sort of momentum throughout the play.
This play would probably have benefitted from a dialogue coach and more rehearsal time in between its run at WaterTower’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival and its current run.
This fails to detract from the power of the story and its relevance in the face of the limitations currently being placed on women’s rights.
Goodwin’s play begs the question: Would this be different if men could get pregnant?
This is the final weekend of the show. Friday and Saturday’s performances are standing room only. Thursday night student tickets are $12.
Valerie Goodwin will be giving a talkback Saturday after the show.
Broken Gears Project Theatre is located at 3819 Fairmount, just north of Oak Lawn.
For more information visit brokengearstheatre.com.
