✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Theatre

The Welkin, National Theatre review ★★★★★

15 Jan 20 – 28 Mar 20, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Chimerica playwright Lucy Kirkwood's gripping new play is about a jury of 12 women in 1759 who must decide if another woman is hanged

By Lucy Brooks on 23/1/2020

3 CW readers are interested
The Welkin, National Theatre. Photo © Brinkhoff/Moegenburg
The Welkin, National Theatre. Photo © Brinkhoff/Moegenburg
The Welkin, National Theatre review 4 The Welkin, National Theatre review Lucy Brooks
To limit the spread of Covid-19, all UK theatres have been closed until further notice. Those due to attend an event will be contacted by the ticket provider.




An engrossing new play at the National's Lyttelton Theatre takes audiences back to 1759, where a young woman is sentenced to hang for murder.


Playwright Lucy Kirkwood, who explored international relations between the US and China in 2013's dazzling Olivier-winner Chimerica and dramatised a nuclear disaster in The Children (Royal Court, 2016), turns her talents to themes of justice and power in this epic yet intimate story.


James Macdonald directs an atmospheric if occasionally laboured production, relying on blackouts and strobe lights to build the tension between scenes.



Taking its title from an old literary term for heavenly skies, The Welkin revolves around a group of women in rural Suffolk faced with a grave decision. When convicted murderer Sally Poppy (a spirited Ria Zmitrowicz) claims to be pregnant and therefore exempt from the death penalty, a jury of 12 women must decide whether she is telling the truth or lying to escape the noose.


Having delivered hundreds of babies, including the convict herself, midwife Elizabeth Luke (Maxine Peake) has the expertise to recognise early pregnancy, but she is troubled by the moral weight of the decision. And others in the jury just want to see Sally executed, baby or no baby.


As the women debate the predicament and scrutinise the prisoner for signs of swelling or lactation, they share their own experiences and opinions with gutsy glee. Kirkwood gives such depth and insight in the course of the three-hour drama that we invest in each character. It’s glorious (and all too rare) to see a stage full of women and a narrative that doesn’t revolve around men.



Belly laughs, gasps and knowing nods abound as the confessional candour shows how little the female experience has changed from the 1750s to the present day. The show is especially eloquent on shared but unseen suffering, from menopausal sweats to recurrent miscarriage. But it’s also alive with drama, intrigue and plot twists.


For all its vivacity and ambition, The Welkin is far from perfect. It needs editing down and tightening up. There are occasional whiffs of twee GCSE drama – especially in a spontaneous and long Kate Bush singalong. And a few of the Suffolk accents are iffy.


But this rabble of rowdy women have more than enough life and freshness to leave us hooked right until the brutal, bitter end.




What The Welkin, National Theatre review
Where National Theatre, South Bank, London, SE1 9PX | MAP
Nearest tube Waterloo (underground)
When 15 Jan 20 – 28 Mar 20, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Price £15 - £70
Website Click here to book and for more information



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Harrison Ford in Shrinking, AppleTV+ (Photo: Apple)
What to watch on TV this week
Culture After Dark: The Best Museum Late Night Openings
Culture After Dark: the best museum late-night openings
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Green Room

    A great place to eat or relax, the Nation Theatre's Green Room is enclosed in a sustainable garden, which acts as an urban oasis amid the hustle and bustle of the Southbank. The Green Room is open from noon until midnight from Monday-Saturday, and until 10pm on Sundays.

    Read more...

    Culture Whisper is your ultimate guide to the newest, most exciting cafés, bars and restaurants in London and we are sure you will love Green Room!

    Book Map
3
Cancelled

You might like

  • The Visit, National Theatre. Photo by Johan Persson

    The Visit, National Theatre review ★★★★★

  • The Man in the White Suit, Wyndham's Theatre

    The Man in the White Suit, Wyndham's Theatre

  • Raki Ayola, Jason Hughes and Rhys Ifans in On Bear Ridge. Photo credit: Mark Douet

    On Bear Ridge, Royal Court Theatre review ★★★★★

  • Wendell Pierce: Death of a Salesman, Young Vic Theatre. Photo by Brinkhoff Morgenburg

    West End transfer: Death of a Salesman, Piccadilly Theatre

  • Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre review

    Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre review ★★★★★

  • Still from film of Mary Poppins: West End show returns to Prince Edward Theatre

    Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre London



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×