In Woman and Scarecrow the title characters, ‘in exile from the best of themselves’, trade litanies of recriminations as they mourn their capacity to love.
‘Anyone can get through the first half. You start a life. You finish it. You don’t bail out at the crossroads because you don’t like the scenery.’
This deathbed drama pitches old friends and battle-weary foes against each other in a sustained howl against ‘the first law. This world’s job is to take everything from you. Yours is not to let it.’ It hinges on the Woman’s last request, to return west where she might find ‘some kind of miracle’, that moment of grace in which ‘anything can happen’. Woman and Scarecrow, a Royal Court production, is a brave addition to Marina Carr’s extraordinary, passionate art.
Marina Carr is not only one of the finest women playwrights of her generation, but simply one of the finest playwrights of any generation. Marina’s work is infused with a rawness, a dynamism and an energy unlike almost any other contemporary playwright. From plays like The Mai to By the Bog of Cats and On Raftery’s Hill, her plays are private, personal epics, heavily influenced by the Greek classics and at the same time uniquely contemporary and Irish. Marina’s work is linguistically brave and forceful, and is beautifully rendered and passionate. In short, Marina Carr’s work represents everything that great theatre should be. — Orlaith McBride, The Irish Times
