Some plays are easier to admire than to actually enjoy...it's a play of fierce ambition but muddled execution...And yet I was also constantly compelled, at least, by the superb ensemble cast.'
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The play is relentlessly interesting, but for me it’s the dependence on melodramatic reveals to advance the plot that ultimately sinks ‘The Welkin’ a bit...there’s a magnificence in its muddle.'
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There is something mechanical in the way Kirkwood works in references to unwise steaming of the female anatomy, or the endless rivalry of midwives and doctors … I just loved the sheer, gutsy audacity of it all.
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The life of the play lies in the vividness of the portrait it paints...it is a brilliant, brave, bold and intelligent three hours in the theatre...often very funny yet at the close, profoundly moving.'
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Lucy Kirkwood’s play... has the makings of a taut psychological study. Yet inflated to three hours, the piece sprawls endlessly and drifts towards a melodramatic conclusion.'
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It is, above all, a cerebral play that does not require us to walk in these women’s shoes nor empathise with them...This makes it arduous and even slightly sterile to watch at times but also profoundly admirable.'
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The panoply of distinctive female voices is a joy. The final 20 minutes find a power and coherence previously lacking. But...much like childbirth, I was relieved when it was finally over.'
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Maxine Peake struggles to make the voice of reason heard in feminist history play... I really wanted to love this show, but the muddy production makes that very hard labour.'
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