Ripen Our Darkness – Sarah Daniels
First, a few words about the author. Sarah Daniels is a british dramatist, born in 1957.Her works are considered some of the most politically provocative on the contemporary British stage. Methuen published two collections of her plays.
Ripen Our Darkness was the play that established her as a writer and was first presented at the Royal Court Theater Upstairs, London, on 7 September 1981.
The play brings together the life stories of several women. Mary is the wife of a church warden and a mother of three: two boys and a girl. Anna is Mary’s daughter and lives with her girlfriend Julie. Rene is married to a drunken asshole, Alf who beats and rapes her. Susan is Rene’s daughter and Julie’s half sister. She just gave birth to a handicapped boy, that died after he was born. Daphne is the church vicar’s wife and Tara, the wife of a psychiatrist.
Mary is stuck in a monotonous life with her husband David, who decided to dedicated his life to God. All she ever does are house chores and take care of the kids. That’s all she’s supposed to do, right?
In this world where men are superior, women are considered stupid, uneducated and expected to obey men, she finds herself lost, without a reason to live, trying to find her way.
“Dear God, why do people kiss? On reflection is seems so disgusting to put your mouth on somebody else’s. Dear God, where do other people find the motivation for living from?”
Being concerned about his wife, David sends Mary to a “conference” for women married to men of the church. While there, she visits her daughter Anna, a lesbian teacher, living with her girlfriend Julie, a lesbian anarchist, and tries to understand their relationship.
Back to Rene, Alf and Susan for a moment. After years of beating, raping and drinking himself into unconsciousness, Alf dies chocking with a scone. All Rene and Susan can feel now is relief.
After coming back from the women married to men of the church “conference”, Mary begins acting different. She starts making her own decisions and not obeying the orders of her husband anymore. This makes David call a psychiatrist to come and give Mary a consult prior to admitting her into a mental institution.
