No More Secrets, No More Lies, The Civic Theatre

Terri K Harrison's play is based on her own book, No More Secrets, No More Lies (Letters of My Life). Not only has she adapted the book for the stage in what is best described as three acts (the first two making up the first half), but the music and songs heard in the piece are written by herself as well. The 'secrets and lies' of the title are how single mothers, those having children 'out of wedlock', were put into the homes run by the church and the 'adopting', of babies (the women had to be seen handing over the child themselves to make it all legit, we are told) to those who wanted them, which is also the topic of the film Philomena; there is also the question of how much the state knew. 

A piano plays as the red colour curtain is changed to a cool tone, at which point an unseen narrator puts forward a number of ideas, one being that following the liberation of the state, the ideological stance of the Roman Catholic church took over, helped by the state, and that in some ways things didn't change. The play, in the main charts Toni's experiences of being a single mother in the 70s, being brought home by the Church, with her family's approval, and her time in the home, what we know in reality as the Magdalene laundries. An older Toni then finds the courage to speak out alongside others in a stronger third act. 

Opening in 1915, although detail wise it isn't quite as clear the time, it shows a family taking their daughter's child as their own, despite their own religious beliefs. From this we are in the 70s and what transpires is something different, yet somehow the same in terms of the attitude of those around her. There is a rawness to it all, something Out of the Blue bring to the table, although in the staging and set less might have well been more, despite the ambition in it, that might have allowed for more free flow, and perhaps using an item or two to suggest where we are, as it did for the baptism scene.

The play boasts a large cast, 17 in total (and even then a few are doubling up), and it does feel an ensemble piece, with a cast that does well. It is a heavy piece that doesn't pull punches, but there are some moments of lightness: the girls in the house when Toni arrives, and the older Brenda and Toni in the second act, plus a wonderful RTE sounding presenter as the host of the panel discussion Toni goes on, which gets interrupted in a very real way. 

It is an important story told with grit and determination, but there is the need for some tightening up, and perhaps a look at the structure of the piece. It is very much a social piece, based on a true story, about a time that many turned a blind eye to, with such places closing only in the 1980s. It also shows the hold the church had on Ireland, individuals and the state itself.