Loyal Women

Synopsis

Brenda is under siege in her Belfast home. Upstairs, daughter Jenny's baby is crying, her mother-in-law is sleeping in the front room and now the women of the Ulster Defence Association want to meet there. It's impossible for Brenda to see where family ends and loyalty begins.

Our Review:

12 November 2003

In 1971, the Ulster Defence Association, the largest loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland, was formed. It has been in bloody conflict with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ever since. The rivalry of ideals between the two factions in Northern Ireland's ongoing troubles serves as a backdrop to the newest opus by award-winning playwright Gary Mitchell.

Loyal Women, the third of Mitchell's works to be staged at the Royal Court, examines the conflict from the simple seclusion of Brenda Ford's Belfast home during the Christmas season, when blue-collar heroine Brenda is assailed by demands from a host of individuals.

There's her 16-year old daughter, the image of what the now-jaded Brenda once was, and her baby, Brenda's granddaughter, who must be cared for. There's her ex-husband Terry, who wants back in on his daughter's life after years away, and Brenda's mother-in-law, currently residing in the front room. To add to the chaos, there's the Wome...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

No reviews yet

Click here to add your review