EDINBURGH 2023: Review: THE HALF MOON, Pleasance Dome

Four women tied by a country savaged by religious politics fight to live and leave in Belfast over four generations. Alice Malseed writes an interesting monologue that bombards the audience with information from the get-go. From illegal home abortions to sectarian violence, The Half Moon aims the spotlight at Northern Ireland from a personal, intimate, feminine point of view. The push and pull of desperately wanting to leave but being forced to stay by an array of outside forces restrain Ethel, Jeanette, Sarah, and Pam, each one a mother or a daughter to the next.

It’s all a bit chaotic and disorganised narratively, with an unfortunate lack of poetry in the text itself. While Malseed takes an individual approach to her story, she doesn’t really say much about what lies behind the events. Belfast is painted like a dangerous city, but the causes for that are left up in the air. The Troubles hang like a guillotine above the women, threatening to destroy their spirit constantly. Directed by Emily Foran with lightning speed, there is no time to absorb what’s happening.

The vicious circle of their insulated life in Tiger’s Bay breaks when Pam decides to leave, only to come back after the Good Friday Agreement that supposedly ended the conflict. As the characters struggle to make sense of the events that stifle their agency, the opportunity arises to dig deep into the inner workings of a city held hostage by nationalism. 

Ethel can’t follow her dream of travelling the world because she can’t ask her estranged father to sign her form to join the Navy. Jeanette is fired after ten years at her job because she lives in the wrong part of town. Sarah finally uproots, but refuses to comply when her family moves back. Pam has to deal with the fallout of the Troubles at the end of the 90s. Perhaps by expanding their stories and opening up from the seclusion of a one-woman production, this play could be pivotal in honouring the memories of the women who fought with their country privately.

The Half Moon runs at the Pleansance Dome on the following dates: 8-13, 15-20, 22-28 August.

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