The Apollo Theatre Players have announced their next production, Rona Munro’s play Iron, which opens at the Apollo Theatre on Friday (5th December).
This powerful play takes as its theme the hidden impact of imprisonment on children and families. The play is an intense psychological drama in which a mother and daughter try to break through the barriers of time, memory and punishment which separate them.
Josie is seeing her mother Fay for the first time in a while – she’s never walked into a prison before, and she’s been putting it off for fifteen years. Fay is serving life for murdering her husband with a kitchen knife.
Her daughter needs to find out why she can’t remember anything that came before that terrible night, why her own mother would kill her father. Uncovering the memories they share is going to be more perilous than either of them can imagine…
Coincidentally, our production comes at a time when this issue is particularly known. An Island woman, who was in this situation herself, was 15 when her mother was sent to prison. She lacked support in this traumatic time, full of shame and anxiety, and no-one seemed to know or sympathise. She is working to ensure that, as she puts it, people become more understanding, more supportive and less judgmental.
The first national Child with a Parent in Prison Day was on 25th November: a new national day of recognition and action about the overlooked issue of the children of people – usually women – who are in prison.
Helen Reading, the director of Iron, says:
“Fay’s story touches my heart in many ways. There are questions to be asked about how she got to breaking point, how abuse and coercion, ridicule and lack of being seen as worth something can end in such tragedy. I am delighted to have directed these 4 actors, who have all brought their own insight, experience and skills to the roles, resulting in, I think, a challenging and poignant production.”
You can catch Iron at the Apollo Theatre on 5th-13th December (no performances Sunday or Monday). Book online at www.apollo-theatre.org.uk or ring the box office on (01983) 210010.
