THE Half Moon by Alice Malseed tells the story of four generations of women from the same family growing up in Tigers Bay in North Belfast.
Premiering at MacRory Hall in the area before touring the city and finishing with a run at The Mac Theatre between the 6 to 10 April, this play gives an insight into the lives of the women growing up in the loyalist working class district.
The play opens in the 1920s with great-grandmother Ethel recounting her ambition to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service, only for those plans to be scuppered due to the fact that she was the daughter of a single mother.
The set consisted of a walkway which doubles up as an air raid shelter and Cave Hill, which forms the backdrop of most of the women’s stories.
Alice Malseed touches on a number of important themes throughout the play – from unplanned pregnancies and backstreet abortions to wanting to escape the horrors of the Troubles and battling the stigma associated with growing up in a working class area like Tigers Bay.
While other playwrights could have written this as a comedy, Alice brings a sense of realness to the script with a dialogue that allows the audience to understand the emotions of the characters in a way that is subtle and indirect.
The phrase ‘like mother, like daughter’ couldn’t be more apt to describe the characters within this performance as at times, their characteristics and mannerisms were indistinguishable owing to a sense that despite the generational divide, little had changed for the women from The Bay.
A one woman show, actress Ruby Campbell brings a strong working class attitude to the characters from Ethel in the 1920s right through to her great-granddaughter Pam, coming of age in post-Good Friday Agreement Belfast.
Throughout the performance you get a sense that these women and their longing for a better future for their families wouldn’t be out of place in any working class area from Tigers Bay to Turf Lodge.
These characters prove that despite political differences, there is more that unites us than that which divides us.
The Half Moon is on tour around Belfast with performances at The Hubb, Shore Road on Thursday 31 March; Shaftesbury Recreational Centre on Friday 1 April; Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich on Saturday 2 April and a run at The Mac from 6 to 10 April.
Tickets for all performances are available here.
