The Factory Girls A Review by Maria Nolan

Factory Girls, the play that propelled renowned playwright Frank McGuinness to prominence at the Abbey Theatre in 1982, was brought to The Presentation Centre stage recently, to the delight of Enniscorthy audiences, by Enniscorthy Drama Group under Director Pat Murphy, ably assisted by Joan O’Rourke.

The production, peppered with witty one-liners and humorous banter concealing many dark underlying issues, is about women and the exploitation of them, in the home, in the workplace, and by the Church.

It tells the story of five working women, whose jobs at a Co. Donegal shirt factory in the recessionary 1980s, are under threat.

The gutsy ringleader Ellen, played superbly by Kate Breen, conceals a tragic past; the attractive, carefree woman of the world Rebecca, aka Joan O’Rourke, is excellently cast as the dark horse of the piece; the factory veteran Una aka Anna Stafford gives an insightful performance as the suppressed Catholic spinster with the sad, uneventful life; the sometimes sharp-tongued Vera, very skilfully effected by Karen Franklin does her best to hide the fact that she is the victim of domestic abuse; and the baby of the piece Rosemary played to a tee by Madeline Breen, as the messenger girl, bullied by the rest of the women and the butt of their many gibes and jokes. The two male characters are equally well cast, Rohan the young factory owner, aka Brendan Carthy, achieving just the right amount of uncertainty in his new position and total frustration with the women and Bonner, the Union representative, older and wiser in the ways of the world and the wiles of the female, so well accomplished by Niall Holohan giving the understated, laid back impression that he’s been there, done that, and seen it all before.

As the play unfolds, the women decide to stage a lock-in as a protest to the planned redundancies and increased productivity, being proposed by management, and then, like peeling an onion, the layers begin to fall away as the women reveal themselves and the many issues and injustices they are being subjected to. Brilliantly cast, this is a thought-provoking and oft times upsetting play as many of the issues alluded to are still with us and to the fore for many of today’s women, over thirty years since the play was first performed.

Full credit to all the actors, whose Donegal accents held throughout the performance, and well done to Karen Franklin, in charge of wardrobe, and Pat Murphy for set.

A production well worth seeing and yet another success for Enniscorthy Drama Group.