by Patricia Burke Brogan, Directed by Gemma Whelan

With Rica Anderson, Lizzie Calogero, Lauren Bloom, Breda Courtney, Erin Daly, Allison Kenny, Sandra Schlechter
Set Design by Richard Olmsted. Sound Design by Greg Scharpen, Lighting Design by Dave Robertson, Costumes by Tammy Berlin

June 5 - 27, 2004 Berkeley City Club; July 16 - 25, 2004 Magic Theatre, San Francisco

A harrowing play about the Magdalenes, the women who were confined to the “penitent women's laundries” in Ireland from the 1850's to the 1990's.

In Eclipsed, author Patricia Burke Brogan was the first to bring to light the story of the women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. After the potato famine of the 1840’s, the church, in conjunction with the state, set up 22 of these facilities ostensibly to house and care for "fallen" women. The power of the Catholic Church was so strong that parents, consumed with shame, sent their daughters away, ostensibly for the good of their souls.

It is estimated that between the 1850’s and the closing of the laundries in 1996, over 30,000 women were detained in Magdalene Asylums throughout Ireland. The women's "crime" was to get pregnant out of wedlock, though typically the fathers were never held accountable. Their babies were immediately taken away and either sent to an orphanage or put up for adoption, and the mothers were never allowed to see their children again. Many of the Magdalenes became institutionalized, remained inmates for life, and were buried in nameless graves.

Eclipsed was first produced at the Punchbag Theatre in Galway in 1992 and has since been performed all over Ireland as well as in England, Scotland, America, and Italy. The play won a Fringe First at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival, as well as the prestigious Moss Hart Theatre Award in 1994. It was also awarded the Critics' Choice and Best of the Weekend by the Los Angeles Times in 1995 and received four nominations for the Los Angeles Theatre Area Awards and two awards from Dramalogue. The Galway-based author, Patricia Burke Brogan, is a former nun who worked in an institutional laundry when she was a novice.

Critical accaim of Eclipsed:

"Eclipsed ... is one of those rare theatrical experiences so profoundly moving that some scenes will tear your heart out." "The power of Wilde Irish's production is due to the confluence of Gemma Whelan's sure-handed direction and a top-notch cast ..." Contra Costa Times

"Wilde Irish Productions ... is back ... with another sterling production" "The Magdalenes themselves are fine actors, and believable, establishing individualized personalities. And both the Mother Superior (Breda Courtney) and the novice (Lauren Bloom) are uncomfortably real." "Richard Olmsted ... has done a truly remarkable job of transforming the City Club’s oblong room into a believable laundry." "Greg Sharpen’s sound design is equally extraordinary." Berkeley Daily Planet

"... cada una de estas actrices es brillante, emocional e impactante. Hacen sentir en carne viva sus desesperación, su pena, transmiten amor y alegría, a pesar de las condiciones en que viven. La dirección de Gemma Whelan es realista y presta mucho detalle a lo mínimo, los movimientos, el texto, la transmisión del pensamiento del texto original." SF Tribune

"... Gemma Whelan's sharp direction and admirable ensemble acting mark Wilde Irish Productions' engaging Bay Area premiere." SF Bay Guardian

Photos by Adam Liberman ©2004