http://www.knighthallagency.com/jaki-mccarricks-award-winning-play-belfast-girls-will-be-in-kansas-city-missouri-from-7-29-april/
BELFAST GIRL PORTLAND OREGON, 2017
Dennis Sparks Sparks Reviews
by Dennis Sparks
11/20/17
“McCarrick has written a powerful play of the endurance of the human
spirit.”
“Whelan has beautifully balanced the wide stage…”
“…the whole cast is first-rate, one of the best ensembles I’ve seen!”
BroadwayWorld.com
by Krista Garver
11/21/17
“It's a fascinating history - one I hadn't heard before - and McCarrick's
script does an excellent job of bringing the women's stories to life.”
“One crew member who provides an unexpected dose of emotion is Anthony
Arnista, the lighting designer. I'm often guilty of not noticing the effects of
lighting on my experience of the play. But the lighting here is beautiful,
especially the scenes in which it's used to evoke the passage of time.
Arnista's work, combined with Sharath Patel's sound design, often made me feel
sad and a little homesick, just like the women on the boat.”
“If you like plays that use individual lives to
illuminate a piece of history, you'll like this one.”
Judy Nedry Reviews
by Judy Nedry
11/21/17
http://www.judynedry.com/belfast-girls/
“I found this play fascinating…”
“Fantastic... abounds with growth and hope and spirit in the face of adversity.”
“…the story of “the other” in our midst, and how society responds to
someone who doesn’t fit the expected mold. It’s a story of how cruel
governments, religions, societies, and individuals can be to their fellow human
beings.”
ArtsWatch
by DeAnn Welker
11/23/17
“Corrib Theatre's resonant staging of a play about women escaping the Irish
Famine rings true amid today's sea change of women's rights.”
“…these five fiery female characters – are particularly prescient today,
amid a sea change in women’s rights, particularly the right to be free of
sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. But we all also know that time can’t
come soon enough.”
“Corrib Artistic Director Gemma Whelan’s direction is deft… every actor
carries her weight and rises to the occasion – and Whelan has assembled a cast
fully capable of doing that and more.”
“Anthony Arnista’s lighting work is marvelous throughout, setting the tone
and moving things along between and during scenes…”
“…this fine production of a particularly resonant story about women trying
to overcome their stations in life – and ultimately finding that the hope lies
in the journey more than the destination, partly because there aren’t the same
problems on a ship full of women that there are in the world filled with men.”
"Anya Pearson brings a fierce strength to Judith that helps audiences
believe these other strong women would look to her as an adviser. Dwyer is
funny as Ellen, but also brings a depth and compassion that this character and
others will need before the play is through. Edelson plays the outcast country
girl with anger simmering from beneath the surface, important to set up her
eventually lashing-out at her dorm mates. Groben brings a sweet innocence to
Molly that you will root for and believe in, just as Judith does. And Olsson
almost steals the show as Hannah, whose grief is never raw but always inside,
just out of sight, where she more readily admits to lust or hides behind her
quick wit."
EDGE Media Network
by Meg Currell
11/27/17
“Jaki McCarrick plumbs diverse human frailty with her five women in the
crucible of small quarters. The five each come to the ship from different
paths; workhouses, poorhouses, fleeing horrors of the famine. All hope what
they find at the end of the three months at sea is better than what they left.”
“As usual, women bear the brunt of the brutality of famine and economic
strife. "We (women) are as the peat: to be used up and walked on."
Hannah (Summer Olsson) and Jane (Hannah Edelson) bicker as siblings scrabbling
over petty morsels, a duo that starts in lighthearted banter. "She never
said no to an urge in her life," says one to the other. "Your mouth
could fit a whale in it!" These two trade some of the brightest lines in
the play, underpinned by a vicious anger that multiplies as the strain of the
journey destroys camaraderie, leaving claws and teeth.”
“A study in human behavior like "Lord of the Flies,"
"Belfast Girls" trains a magnifying glass on women's history, using
the additional lens of Irish diaspora.”
“The strength of this play is in the lyrical writing, supported by
convincing accents among actors whose confidence grew as the show went on. At
its apex, the story is marvelously dispatched, its themes of self-determination
and futility wrestling to mutual destruction.”
BELFAST GIRLS, PITTSBURGH PA, October 2017
"A terrific ensemble of five young women carries this charming, funny,
dark, and thoughtful two-act play by Jaki McCarrick, one of Ireland’s literary
stars. Historically, the five represent some 4,000 young women who were shipped
to Australia to provide wives to the predominantly male population there. The
formal program was designed to reduce the workhouse populations and provide
escape from the devastation of Ireland’s four-year potato famine (1845-49). The
solution of shipping young women out conjures Ebenezer Scrooge’s suggestion
that those who would avoid the workhouse might simply die to decrease the
surplus population."
http://www.pghintheround.com/belfast-girls/
“A terrific
ensemble of five young women carries this charming, funny, dark, and thoughtful
two-act play by Jaki McCarrick, one of Ireland’s literary stars.
“Jaki McCarrick’s captivating play Belfast Girls tells the story of five
young women who escape starvation in 1850 Ireland by winning passage on a ship
bound for Australia as part of Earl Grey’s ‘orphan scheme.’ McCarrick examines
themes of class division, race and misogyny through the turbulent journey of
these women’s lives which are in one moment heartbreaking and the next
humourous.” Vanvouverpresents.com
“Here is an incredible play… The script was incredible and fulsome, the
characters totally well flushed out. While the subject matter was deep, the
emotional levels allowed the experience to be both enjoyable and moving. The
play is an exploration of women moving to other peoples' land to start a new
life where their lives in Ireland were horrendous, because acts of colonization
(the exportation of their food sources for the privileged people's enrichment
and/or enjoyment) was literally starving them to death ... chilling.” Karen
Tsang
"A really powerful ensemble piece." Vancouver Sun
"The timing of Belfast Girls and its story of 1850 Irish women
emigrating to Australia is perfect in 2017." Brokenlegreviews
"The strength of McCarrick's themes point to the likelihood of its
becoming a popular addition to the regional circuit... Highly
recommended." Windy City Times
"...a thought-provoking work of historic fiction and tremendous imagination." Theatre World Internet Magazine
"McCarrick provides all these injustices with human faces... and
provides a fine study of characters and their world. Recommended."
The Chicago Critic
CRITICS'
PICK, Windy City Times, Chicago, 2015
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Theater-Spotlight-and-Critics-Picks/51762.html
“Artemisia's
introduction of this award-and-accolade-winning play to audiences on this side
of the Atlantic might be a humble one, but the strength of McCarrick's themes
point to the likelihood of its becoming a popular addition to the regional
circuit. Why wait until that comes to pass, though, when you can see it now?
Highly recommended.”
Mary
Shen Barnidge, The Windy City Times
“The sense of helplessness is gut-punching and the disturbing aftermath is heart-wrenching. With minimal scenery or props to aid in the storytelling, the idea of what we are looking at still conjures up an unforgettable visual. I get misty imagining what lies ahead for these pioneering women. Recommended.” Katy Walsh, the Fourth Walsh
"Belfast Girls is a thought-provoking work of historic fiction and
tremendous imagination. The cast beautifully bands together and jostles through
the angry waters. Highly recommended."
Ruth Smerling, Theatre World Internet Magazine
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