Mary Ann, The Forgotten Sister – emotionally charged promenade theatre about a woman of substance (Kabosh Theatre)

The weather forecast for last Saturday suggested that the rain clouds would pass quickly and the second half of the morning would be dry. It’s testament to the quality of the writing and the performances that Mary Ann, The Forgotten Sister thoroughly engaged even when the weather disobeyed the forecast and lashed down on the 20 or so audience members gathering in Clifton Street Cemetery.

Young Maria walked down in period costume to greet us and we followed her black umbrella past the largest famine graveyard in Ireland and around the corner to the resting place of Mary Ann McCracken (1770-1866). The stone bearing Mary Ann’s name labours her connection to brother Henry Joy McCracken (1767-1798) who was later buried in the same grave, rather than celebrating her own legacy. Yet over the next 80 minutes, Clare McMahon’s play asserted and convincingly argued that Mary Ann is no mere accessory to history.

This is the story of a woman’s whose public service was driven by a profound sense of social n and is spurred on by the deaths of siblings. Calla Hughes played her young niece Maria – Henry’s child born out of wedlock but reared by his two spinster sisters – who guided us through her life. We got to hear from Mary Ann herself when we reached the dry warmth and welcome of Clifton House, the site of the poor house that one of Mary Ann’s many committees sought to support and improve.

Carol Moore played Mary Ann as a feisty, forthright and no-nonsense woman of foresight. No shrinking violet, but someone who sought to convince and challenge through conversation rather than direct action and big rallies.

Maria Connolly took on the role of sister Margaret (amongst many other characters), bursting into song with Hughes who delivered some of the funniest lines of McMahon’s superb writing. The use of song –from folk artist Jane Cassidy – created the gaps necessary to reposition the audience for each new indoor scene. A few audience members even got to deliver a line or two as bit characters in the story.

I came away from the performance with a strong understanding of Mary Ann’s motivations, an appreciation of the width of her interests and successful campaigning, and an admiration of her tenacity. Few other 89-year-olds would have been out leafletting in 1856 never mind 2024.

A palpable sense of sorrow runs through much of the production. Mary Ann dealt with the loss of her siblings by throwing herself into her causes. She was a woman of complexity, with a strong sense of faith pervading her approach to infant education, a stubbornness to get around the barriers put up by men whose hands rested on the purse strings, and an ever-developing sense of injustice as new issues and information came to light. Mary Ann sounds like she epitomises the best of Belfast, with more than just niece Maria picking up her values.

Site specific promenade theatre is tricky to write and produce. But Kabosh Theatre, playwright Clare McMahon and director Paula McFetridge succeed in connecting the places with the people and creating an emotionally charged 80 minutes of historical theatre. Mary Ann McCracken will be forgotten no more. I’m off to read her biography.

Photo credit: Johnny Frazer

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