Performed 20th May 2015
Big Maggie - a riveting story of money, land and an Irish mother's tough love ......."
Set in a small town in 1960s rural Ireland, John B. Keane's gripping dark comedy, "Big Maggie", revolves around the struggles of a recently widowed woman to assert control over her family and indeed her own life. While her new 'widow status' is perceived as an opportunity for the local male fraternity, Big Maggie has acquired the traits of a newly awakened, liberated women that refuses to live by the established social and cultural norms - shaking off the oppressive conventions of religion and marriage - and in the process igniting explosive opposition and fiery confrontation from start to finish!
This is a compelling portrait of a woman who is determined to take control of her life following the death of her husband. Shocking for its time - the play premiered in 1969 - the portrait that Keane painted of the dark side of Irish family life seems now to be eerily prescient.
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