Towards the end of The Welkin, one of the characters observes that her society knows more about the moon than the inside of women’s bodies. It’s 1759, and a comet has appeared in the sky, just as the astronomer Edmond Halley predicted. Celestial mathematics is far less mysterious than the everyday reality of pregnancy.
The bulk of Lucy Kirkwood’s lengthy play takes place in a single room, as a jury of 12 “matrons” gather to decide if Sally Poppy, convicted of murdering an 11-year-old girl alongside her lover, is telling the truth when she claims to be pregnant with his child.
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