Four years prior, Emma Donoghue completed the manuscript of her novel, The Pull of the Stars. That work, which she has newly adapted into a stage play, abruptly took on a chillingly prophetic resonance. Located in the centre of London, in the maternity ward of a hospital during the final stages of World War I, the narrative unfolds across a brief span of three intense days. It travels through the lives of three women – a midwife, a doctor, and a hospital volunteer – as they serve a group of expectant mothers, vulnerable due to an outbreak in sickness that would eventually claim millions of lives globally.
As the war and pandemic fend off threats exterior to the hospital walls – illustrated by public notifications to avoid congested public places, limit social contact and discourage physical greetings like handshakes – within the walls the pregnant women and their healthcare workers engage in their individual struggles.
Midwife Julia Power, as the lead nurse, is faced with myriad challenges including managing a delirious patient population in her understaffed ward, confronting rationed medical supplies, and dealing with the illness promoting premature labor among its other implications.
In 2018, Donoghue found inspiration to create the story after encountering records detailing the widespread contagion of the Spanish Flu in the 20th century. Notably susceptible to the virus were the pregnant women, serving as a stark reminder of the societal expectations on women across classes to endure pregnancies repeatedly.
As the author notes, upon returning from her Canada residence to Dublin to aid in the production of her play at the Gate Theatre, the equality promised by healthcare is unfulfilled. Furthermore, childbirth, though not an ailment itself, still holds uneven outcomes like a game of chance. Donoghue herself faced a life-threatening pregnancy complication that could have ended tragically barring immediate access to a high-quality hospital, a fact that left her painfully cognizant of the risks always held by childbirth, especially among lower-class women expected to bear children time after time.
“The narrative of the play exclusively revolves around a female perspective, portraying childbirth as a battle zone for women, an ordeal that is often overlooked due to its ubiquity and the universal experience of being born. Setting the storyline within the confines of a maternity ward, a space brimming with an array of human dramas, was a deliberate feminist decision. Many of my works delve into the lives of women who are unfortunately trapped, whether domesticated or locked up.
The initial narrative – named after the Italian phrase ‘influenza delle stelle’, the medieval idea that ailments are dictated by celestial bodies – contained a pivotal male figure, the protagonist’s brother, among a few others. However, the stage rendition excludes these characters on the suggestion of Róisín McBrinn, the artistic director at the Gate, to create a sole female narrative.
The process of optimising a theatrical adaptation inevitably leads to a trimming down of characters. I was bound to have a mostly female cast but the concept of emphasising the female voice primarily intrigued me, especially in the Irish theatre industry where male perspectives historically dominate, says Donoghue. The play, narrating the tale of 1918, holds a surprising contemporary significance, particularly with the ongoing derogation of women’s bodily rights in countries like the US. Debuting this play in Ireland, a country with a past riddled with lack of choice for women, feels substantially pertinent.”
Recreating an authentic environment akin to a maternity ward has been a crucial endeavour. According to Donoghue, “The play demands a representation of the birth ambience. It couldn’t have been a restrained, orderly play. It needed to be a whirlwind, leaving minimal room for respite”. This task is further emphasised knowing that the Gate Theatre’s locale is in the vicinity of the Rotunda maternity hospital, which suffered its own trials amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Louise Lowe, the director of the play, comments on how viewing it brings a heightened consciousness of the extreme vulnerability of women’s bodies. Midwives being part of their rehearsals greatly contributed to their motivation to express the story with more clarity. Lowe also acknowledged how the midwives’ presence and insights profoundly impacted the play’s dynamics, making it intensely engaging and raw in the most positive sense. The author, Donoghue, sought the guidance of a midwife during her writing process to ensure the realism of her descriptions.
Drawn to the genre of historical fiction, Donoghue doesn’t aim to merely relive or reinterpret the past, but rather strives to promote deeper comprehension of past times by shedding light on the elements that have been overlooked or lost. She has a particular attraction towards those omitted from the pages of history. “There’s richer narration to be found in such narratives. Speaking on behalf of those long-forgotten francly, adds an extra spark to my writing,” she expresses. Women’s lives and their restricted circumstances, whether domestic or legal, is a common theme in her books. She mentions, “Girls barred from education by the Taliban is one example. Globally, there are countless examples of women being constrained. This play spotlights one such instance.”
Donoghue deliberatedly named the play echoing Seán O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars, as it was his plays that first spotlighted the discordance between the elegance of the Georgian buildings in Dublin, and the harsh slum conditions within. Donoghue makes a similarity to the sickly character Mollser Gogan in The Plough and the Stars, drawing parallels to her own parents who were afflicted by tuberculosis during their adolescence.
The protagonist of The Pull of the Stars, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, portrayed by Maeve Fitzgerald in the Gate production, takes inspiration from a real-life suffragist and 1916 revolutionary. She co-founded St Ultan’s Hospital for Sick Infants in Dublin, alongside Madeleine ffrench-Mullen, in 1919. Lynn’s involvement in the narrative underlines the correlation between the wellbeing of expectant mothers and the societal decisions in which they exist. According to the author, Donoghue, this confronts not only the pressure on women in Ireland to bear many children but also the grim reality of insufficient clean water, air, and food.
The narrative also introduces the character of Bridie Sweeney, an institutionalised youth volunteer and carer, who suffers abuse and neglect. The inspiration behind Bridie’s character came from reading the Ryan report, as mentioned by Donoghue. This was a decade-long state inquest into child abuse in residential establishments, which confirmed without a doubt, in the words of former children’s minister Katherine Zappone, that children were treated as prisoners and slaves. For Donoghue, every novel she authors involves one intense research segment; for The Pull of the Stars, it was the Ryan report.
Donoghue, whose bibliography now boasts more than 20 works, including the Oscar-winning adaptation Room, is currently working on three additional books. Frequently juggling several projects simultaneously, sometimes up to five, she admits to occasionally feeling tired and switching between projects.
Born as the youngest of eight in Dublin in 1969, Donoghue recalls being perpetually rushed from an early age, regularly dashing home from school to compose poetry amid her homework. She nostalgically shares how challenging it was to voice her opinion at family meals, being the youngest and asserting herself amongst her older siblings. Her late father, Denis Donoghue, an academic and literary critic, played an instrumental role in fostering her work ethic and curiosity from a very young age. His lifelong productivity served as an inspiration for her, preventing her from considering herself prolific; after all, her father continued writing well into his 90s.
The initial table reading gave off an air of the comedy at Fawlty Towers, with the actors’ sharp wit sparking laughs at every turn, says Donoghue, flashing a grin. She likens the rehearsal process to waves, moving between periods of crises and interludes of tea and banter, punctuated with frequent bouts of laughter. The players’ wit coupled with impromptu moments of joy and conflict created a dynamic, fluid environment which was anything but static.
Donoghue firmly believes that laughter serves as an effective medium to convey the essence of the play. She states that laughter helps to open up some people’s minds in a way that nothing else can, enabling the delivery of a message without resorting to preaching, which she views as particularly potent. It is also essential in offering a reprieve from the constant sense of agony.
“The Pull of the Stars” is set to open its doors at the Gate Theatre in Dublin on Wednesday, April 10th, following preview performances commencing Friday, April 5th.