MARYLAND - A HOWL 

From London’s Royal Court Theatre to The University of Wolverhampton: School of Performing Arts 

This month students from the BA (Hons) musical theatre and BA (Hons) acting and theatre students and staff performed a script-in-hand performance of Maryland by Olivier-award winning playwright Lucy Kirkwood.  Originally performed at London’s Royal Court Theatre in October of this year, the play was written by Kirkwood as a response to the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.  We are thankful to the Royal Court theatre for giving us the opportunity to perform this show, Kirkland herself has said that she is hesitant to even call Maryland a play ‘it is simply a howl, a way of expressing what I feel about a culture of violence against women, but I am sharing it because I wonder if it might express a little of what other people feel about it too.’ 

Students and staff spent an afternoon working with Elle While, Artistic Director of Pentabus theatre company, and Florence Espeut-Nickless, Pentabus’s Writer-in-Residence.  Third year musical theatre student Lottie Grey enjoyed the opportunity to get back in the theatre: ‘I am extremely thankful for this amazing performance opportunity. The experience was unforgettable, and I am so proud to have been a part of it.’ Second year musical theatre student D’arcelle Wright Harvey feels that she ‘learnt a lot’ from the process; ‘it was so good to be back in the theatre and to get to work on such an inspirational piece.’  Third year Drama student Daniel Rushford shadowed theatre technician Joe Geoghan to support the performance. He said ‘we’re really lucky to have this great theatre space and the opportunity to explore technical theatre roles. This show gave me an opportunity to think about the importance of sound in performance.’ 

Pentabus is an award-winning local theatre company committed to creating accessible work in the Midlands.  They have been described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘one of the most important theatre companies in the country’ and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to work with them on such an important project.   Acting and theatre programme leader Dr Claire Hampton said ‘it is so important to give students space to voice their anger about things they may not have realised they were angry about.  This was a particularly meaningful opportunity for women, and specifically women of colour, to feel the power of collective voices coming together in live performance.’