Gripping jury drama mixes misogyny, superstition and sexuality

The Welkin provides a deep dive into another world, drawing us into the lives of twelve East Anglian women from 300 years ago – the ‘jury of matrons’ who must decide whether Sally Poppy is telling the truth in claiming to be pregnant, and therefore whether she will live or die. The rich canvas of this play combines twists and turns with laughter, tears, violence and shocking revelations.
The play’s author, Lucy Kirkwood is a highly talented and prolific playwright, described by the Guardian as a ‘dramatist of dauntless ambition’. She has enjoyed recent stage and TV screen success with Maryland and Chimerica; critical recognition for the latter has included an Olivier and awards by the Evening Standard and the Critic’s Circle. An earlier Kirkwood play, The Children, also Suffolk-based, was very well-received when performed at the Sewell Barn Theatre in 2019.
Most of the seventeen characters of The Welkin are onstage throughout the play, filling the Barn’s unique space with their presence. Emma Smith plays Sally, who ‘pleads the belly’ when convicted for the murder of a young girl. Determined to save her is Elizabeth Luke, the local midwife, played by Jo Parker-Sessions. Emma and Jo have both appeared at the Barn earlier this year, in Orca and The Father respectively. Other members of the cross-generational cast bring rich acting expertise and skills: they include David Newham (veteran of more than 100 plays at The Maddermarket Theatre), Ginny Porteous (the female lead in many production at the Barn and the Maddermarket), Sabrina Poole (to be the Barn’s new Artistic Director in 2023), and Helen Wells (recently in Henry VI at RSC Stratford as a Shakespeare Nation performer).
“The Welkin teems with life, ideas and vivid language; it has the breadth of experience akin to a play by Shakespeare” said Jez Pike, the director of this production. “It is not often that one comes across a drama by a contemporary writer that takes in the personal, the political, the farcical, the sexual and the supernatural. Audiences encounter a world with strange customs and beliefs that will at first seem very different from their own. Yet as the gripping story unfolds, it may begin to feel uncomfortably familiar”.
Jez currently leads Norwich Theatre’s artist development programme, after four years as Artistic Director of The Maddermarket Theatre. His critically-acclaimed productions there included Jerusalem, A View from the Bridge and Boudica. Jez’s freelance career has also included productions at the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringes; The Park Theatre, London; The Dukes, Lancaster; Bolton Octagon and numerous productions for Theatre by the Lake in Cumbria.

The Welkin contains strong language and adult themes and will be performed at the Sewell Barn Theatre, Constitution Hill, Norwich NR3 4BB from Thursday 13 October to Saturday 22 October 2022. Tickets are available online at £11 and £12 from TicketSource via www.sewellbarn.org, also by phone via 0333 6663366. Booking fees are included in the ticket prices.