Swimming in synchronicity, gasping for the air of freedom.
Two women incarcerated for breaking society’s harsh rules.
Discarded and forgotten for half a century.
Together treading water, creating a world together in which Doris Day provides solace and hope. This dark and moving comedy starts in the England after the First World War, and is inspired by the lives of two women, Miss Kitson and Miss Baker, who were each locked away in a hospital for the “criminally insane”, one for wishing to dress like a man and the other for bearing an illegitimate child. United by circumstance, they were not released until the 1970s.
The play moves between the harsh, linear world of the hospital and a world they create after their release. By turns funny, chilling and moving, Airswimming explores the brutal lives of women put away because of their inconvenience to society, and the resilience of the the human spirit.
Written by multi-award winning playwright Charlotte Jones. Directed by Claire Evans.
Warning: Sensitive content around the loss of a baby and suicide.
Cast: Vic Holt and Rachel Fletcher-Hudson.
Union Theatre, Old Union Arches, 229 Union Street, London, SE1 0LR.
Dates: 31st October 2023 – 4 November 2023. Times: 7.30pm Tuesday to Saturday; 2.30pm and 7.30 pm Saturday 4 November. Admission: £18 (£15 concession).
Booking: http://uniontheatre.biz/show/airswimming/
Running time (TBC) : 2 hours including a 20 minute interval.
