Virago – Tomb/The Great Escape/Killing Children/Kitty, Queen of the Wash House

Four new plays focusing on the power of strong women. Tomb – Tomb, by Ian Gray, tells of Cait, a pilgrim searching for a truth which resides, she believes, in the tortured memory of the reclusive Francis. But Francis is in thrall, not only to his past, but to his mentor Father Jerome. David Haworth’s offering, The Great Escape, was inspired by his 17 years leading workshops about storytelling for terminally ill patients as a technique to help them make the most of the time they have left. In his play three very different such patients work together playing games. They use the props to hand in their day care room to help fire their imaginations. Patrick Maguire’s Killing Children centres around Jackie, a woman who has a deeply destructive relationship with her son. She explores herself as a person rather than simply the parent of the dangerous man to whom she gave birth. Kitty, Queen of the Wash House, by John Maguire, is the story of Liverpool legend Kitty Wilkinson whose life in the Victorian era of the City was pockmarked with poverty, death and brutal hardship. But her spirit rose above all this and Kitty became a major figure in combating a vicious cholera outbreak and went on to champion wash-houses for the poor.

Part of the Liverpool Fringe by the City’s innovative Make It Write production group