The year is 1759, and the world awaits the foretold arrival of Halley’s Comet. Lady Wax’s daughter has been murdered, and in this rural town, the people are out for blood. Sally Poppy has been found guilty of the crime, alongside her lover, who has already been hanged. Her life now depends on whether she is indeed pregnant, as she claims, or simply lying. If she is with child, she will be transported and spared. Her life rests in the hands of twelve women, summoned to reach a unanimous verdict. While some are eager to fulfil their civic duty, others want to complete it. Their status, age, and social category could not be different. One has just entered adulthood and is married, while the other is in her eighties. One is childless, and one has borne twenty-one children. Amid their bickering and teasing, one of them begins comprehending the significance of their presence in the jury room. Midwife Lizzy is aware that, despite the mob howling for blood outside their window, these twelve women hold the power to change the world otherwise ruled by men.
However, they must grapple with their consciences to make the right decision. What unfolds is a radical unveiling of perspectives in which we recognise, in our daily lives, the disguised dynamics of interfemale relations. By setting the plot in the 18th century, Kirkwood shed light on those stances not to portray the past, but to expose the present.
This drama has been brought to the stage by director Marina Pejnović.
