VAL (looking at the note again). Poppy and Claire have arrived safely and Sybil sends her love.
Lights up on LAWRENCE trying to kick CLAIRE’s front door down.
LAWRENCE (shouts). For the last time, open this door, Claire.
Then fade. Lights up on VAL. Enter JOYCE.
JOYCE (holds out her hand to VAL). Ready?
VAL (taking her mother’s hand). Yes.
BYRTHRITE
Foreword
Byrthrite is set in the seventeenth century, the time when control over women’s reproductive processes began to change hands from women to men. The changeover began with the introduction of new technology by male doctors, the use of forceps in childbirth. The process continued, and gathered momentum, over the following three centuries through the progressive introduction of technological interventions derived from a science and medicine organised to exclude women from significant positions within it. The organisation and development of medicine, particularly obstetrics and gynaecology, and science, particularly human genetics, is fundamental to the situation we find ourselves in today.
Reproductive technology has been defined as:
‘Covering anything to do with the manipulation of the gametes (eggs or sperm) or the foetus, for whatever purpose from conception other than by sexual union, to treatment of disease in utero, to the ultimate manufacture of a human being to exact specification … Thus the earliest procedure … is artificial insemination; next … artificial fertilisation … next artificial implantation … in the future total extracorporeal gestation … and finally what is popularly meant by (reproductive) engineering, the production – or better, the biological manufacture of a human being to desired specification.’
This definition, taken from the Journal of the American Medical Association was published in 1972 when the only technique that could be used to alter conception and result in a live birth was artificial insemination. Artificial fertilisation and artificial implantation resulting in a live birth did not take place until 1978 when Louise Brown was born in England, the first so-called test tube baby.
In 1986 we have three of these five processes. Total extracorporeal gestation, the so-called artificial womb, followed by the biological manufacture of human beings to desired specification, of course, remain to be achieved. The development of these processes depend upon each other. The definition gives us the cumulative technological steps that need to be taken in order to gain total control over human reproduction. It also exposed the long term planning and major resource allocation needed to achieve these ends.
The new reproductive technologies are one aspect of biotechnological developments that will affect every aspect of life from the growth of food to warfare. The qualities inherent in biotechnology are those of efficiency, speed and control. In human reproduction research women, our bodies ourselves, are the experimental material.
Amid the eugenic presentation of the new reproduction technologies by the mass media, ‘perfect babies for perfect couples’, lies the Governmental, and ethical discussion generally. This proceeds without reference to women. The influential British Government Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology (the Warnock Report) uses a scientific, knowledge-based way of discussing reproduction. They showed no understanding that they were discussing woman’s life processes. In this, and the other reports around the world based on it, women are reduced to body parts: wombs, ovaries, and fallopian tubes or subsumed within ‘the couple’ or ‘the family’, which of course is always heterosexual. Women have no existence except as biology or in relation to men.
The use of medicine and science controlled by men to challenge the independence and subjectivity of women continues as does the challenge to it by women. The prize is total control over women’s reproductive processes and the reproduction of future generations. Women may at last become the vessel, the carrier, if used at all, for the male creation. In Byrthrite we return to the origins of this struggle.
‘We are living in an age where technology is outstripping science fiction in its possibilities and in its language of myth and symbol and where, in the world of reproductive research, the whole idea of fathering is undergoing a profound shift of meaning. It is still a culture whose most persistent myth is that of ultimate male procreativity in the shape of God who both created the world and fathered his son through remote implantation using the medium of woman. Scientists do not have to be mad to be informed by the prevailing mythology. The technology, given the system of ideas that underlies it, is self generating, and generating new technologies at an extraordinary rate’.
(Claire McDonald, Letter, Women’s Review, No. 4, 1985).
Jalna Hanmer
University of Bradford, 1987
Byrthrite was first presented at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs on 21 November 1986, with the following cast:
ROSE, 17
Eleanor David
GRACE, 70
BRIDGET, 19
Maggie McCarthy
HELEN, 33
ANN, 30
PRICKER’S MOTHER, 55
Holly Wilson
URSULA, 13
MARY, 18
Meera Syal
JANE, 20
LADY H, 30
URSULA’S MOTHER
Janette Legge
A MAN, various ages
David Bamber
The action takes place in the seventeenth century in the county of Essex, during the Civil War.
Part One
Scene One: The lying-in
Scene Five: The pond
Scene Two: Outside
Scene Six: Outside
Scene Three: The meeting room
Scene Seven: The servants’ attic
Scene Four: Grace’s home
Scene Eight: The meeting room
Part Two (two years later)
Scene One: Outside
Scene Six: Grace’s home
Scene Two: The church
Scene Seven: The inn
Scene Three: A rowing boat
Scene Eight: Grace’s home
Scene Four: The pond
Scene Nine: The pond
Scene Five: The gaol
Scene Ten: Grace’s garden
Directed by Carole Hayman
Designed by Jenny Tiramani
Music by Jo-Anne Fraser
PART ONE
Scene One
The lying-in.
Night. ROSE and HELEN outside a house. ROSE has almost completed carving a wooden toy and HELEN is finishing a baby’s garment. Presently GRACE, a midwife, comes out to them.
GRACE. It be a girl.
Women’s voices can be heard singing from inside the house.
GRACE, ROSE and HELEN join in the song.
ALL:
The Birthing Song
Unto you a child is born
Unto you a daughter given
From this time forth go and to all women tell;
That the daughter’s inheritance shall pass
Through you all, to be kept forever
Women’s rite, women’s right for choice in birth.
HELEN. How is Ann?
GRACE. In best of spirits. Mary is with her.
ROSE. And is her mind made up to a name?
GRACE. Aye, Marion. Ah there you be, Rose, now be sure and let all the women know of our plans afore this night’s celebrations addle their memories.
ROSE. I’ll need you to lend weight to arguments.
GRACE. By and by.
ROSE goes inside.
HELEN. Grace, you’ll not take umbrage if I avoid the revellin’?
GRACE. Even the most rigid men allow our sex attendance at lying-in.
HELEN. Is not that.
GRACE. Aye. I know too well who I shall find outside: Rose and thyself with not a word passed between you, no doubt.
HELEN. For our reasons could not be more contrary.
GRACE. Cam, I will walk with you.
HELE
N (shakes her head). Let me be alone.
GRACE. I shall see you at the meeting?
HELEN. Aye. So thou shalt.
Scene Two
The meeting room.
A bare room. MARY stands in the middle. HELEN at the side, watching her. ROSE, at the other end, her back to both of them, staring out of the window.
MARY. I’ll not stand here waiting for moon to turn to cheese.
HELEN. Is you to begin, Mary. Rose and I follow on.
MARY. Mind, if she doth ‘Grace’ us with an appearance I’ll not start over.
HELEN. Will do harm to none of us to have our memories freshened.
MARY (sighs, takes a deep breath and starts). ‘Verily, we enquire of the cunning woman, wilt thou pass on the knowledge of the longevity of life, and she does thus reply’ (Trying to remember the next line.) ’and she does thus reply,’ yes? (But she can’t.) Oh, a pox on this. (So she ad libs.) ’And she does thus reply.’ (Very fast.) ‘I vouchsafe to thee daughter, tis not so much the abominable odious persistent attention of such lewde and filthye offenders as mankynde. Tis not …’
HELEN. Recoil thy tongue before it runs us to the rope. Do you want us hung?
MARY (to HELEN). Nay, those are not the lines either – still sounds good, specially as it rhymes.
HELEN. Is not for saying out loud and neither is what you just spake.
MARY. What I supposed to have said floated clean out of my skull and them others floated in.
HELEN. Well, they aren’t for floating out of your mouth.
MARY. Who pray will be bowing over to correct us? At this pace not even Holy Ghost. (Sullenly.) Oh, what matter is it to anyone, any matter.
HELEN (wearily). Don’t beset us with that all over.
MARY. You liked my words well enough didn’t ye, Rose? (Pause.) Rose?
ROSE (still with her back to them). I can’t keep watch and sort out quarrels.
MARY (mumbles). Plain folly.
ROSE (turns round). Let her say what she wants, Helen, we’ve not got time to be worrying over a few words.
HELEN. Let’s start up one more time, Mary? I was out of course to reprimand you.
MARY. The mood has mislaid me.
HELEN (snaps). Seems like you had a big dump on you afore you cam.
MARY (mutters). Waste of precious female breath.
ROSE. Mary! How can you turn your mind round so?
MARY (wearily). In the first instance, singing, dancing, players, enjoyment of any kind is going against the law. (Becoming angry.) Second, women are never heard of doing it. And third, (Shouts.) one of our dramatis personae is missing!
HELEN. Keep your mouth level. Do you want for the pricker to have his irons clapped on us?
MARY Us! Us! Us! It’s always us! Not a woman in the county not lying quaking tonight a-worrying at being swam and who’s doing anything ‘bout it – us! Always the same.
HELEN. We should be thanking luck we don’t live such a distance from each other. No place else in this country could you find a handful of women with no children.
MARY (holding up three fingers in disbelief). This many? This many of us? I’ll not swallow nature having so few singularities.
ROSE. And Grace. That’s one more.
MARY (exasperated). And where is Grace? Where be she then?
HELEN (with concern). ‘Tis unlike her not to cam at all. And there’s no woman due.
MARY. Huh, the day that will be. (Then:) Oh Helen, forgive me, I was not thinking.
ROSE. Probably her cock got loose again. (They laugh, ROSE turns back to the window.) He’s almost upon us. You and your fooling.
HELEN (panicking). Quick, quickly. Make haste. The psalms.
They all kneel.
MARY (mutters). If I try and sing a psalm in this humour it will all but burst my throat apart.
HELEN. Make any effort to look devotional at least.
MARY. I’m going to say my piece.
ROSE. Do not risk it for sake of a moment’s irritation.
MARY. I don’t need lessons in moralising from you, Rose Clarke, I’ll do as I please. Verily, I say unto you that man not only wants power over woman but over life. His attraction for lust, power and violence is fatally entwined.
HELEN. Hush, I can hear his footfalls.
MARY. You must be a bat then. Rain has not stopped since harvest. He’ll be paddling on mud.
HELEN (sings boldly). The Lord’s my shepherd I’ll not want. He maketh me to lie down in pastures green, he leadeth me the quiet waters.
She stops abruptly as the door opens revealing JANE, a woman disguised as a soldier.
MARY (continuing where HELEN leaves off). Wherein to drown.
ROSE (surprised to see a soldier). Oh, and who might you be?
JANE. And who might you be expecting?
MARY. Not you.
HELEN. This is a devotional meeting, sir. For women alone.
JANE. Ha. You’ll be thanking Lord Jesus for that then.
ROSE. We have no account to make to you.
JANE remains where she is and ROSE continues to study her during the following dialogue.
HELEN (quickly, wanting to pacify). We are but bald women, sir, asking for God to look down on us in his mercy.
JANE (heartily). You look neither useless nor hairless to me.
HELEN. As ye must know, sir, t’is a quirk of our speech that the word for barren and useless be but the same.
ROSE (sharply). What business have you here?
JANE. I am a soldier.
MARY (sarcastically). Even that much the weaker sex are able to guess at.
HELEN (kindly). What can be your enquiry? This is Master Grimbold country …
JANE. I have some information which I am in two minds as to if I should impart it to you.
HELEN. Please leave us be.
JANE. Is a question of my sincerity then? Cam now you can trust me.
MARY. Aye, ’tis those assurances have led us to the gallows. Silence.
ROSE. I am mad for I will say it. Is my guess you be either a vision or a woman.
JANE. Curses! ’Tis the first time I have been tumbled. Now, you have spoilt my revelations.
MARY (in disbelief). A woman?
JANE. In truth. Doing a man’s job for a man’s wage.
HELEN. A woman?
JANE. Aye.
Pause.
ROSE (coldly). And what of this information or was it merely a revelation regarding your wardrobe?
JANE. Hovel some distance from here with a tree hanging over, containing an old woman with a fierce mouth.
ROSE. Grace? Would be Grace. (Concerned.) What of her?
JANE. Seems she had a visitor cam to frighten her. Mind, she had banished him well afore I got close.
ROSE. And she?
JANE. She was well enough to spit in my direction leading me to conclude she wasn’t too weakened by it.
ROSE (shakes her head). Can’t be Grace. She’d not spit at a brave woman.
JANE. With other things to think on. She took me on face of my apparel.
MARY. Oh for shame of it.
JANE. Aye. I’m bound that be but half the tale.
HELEN. To my relief she’s cam to no harm. For I must take leave now.
MARY. Where does your husband think you are?
HELEN (didn’t want MARY to mention her husband in front of JANE. She says casually). He’d not notice, he’s keeping an all-night vigil against the divel. But of my own accord I must take leave. (To JANE:) But my hope is that our paths will cross again, Mistress err …
JANE. Jane.
HELEN. I’m Helen.
ROSE. Rose.
MARY. Mary.
HELEN. I’ll bid you goodnight. (She goes.)
JANE. Goodnight.
MARY. All night vigil against the divil. Ha! He’ll not be so engrossed that her presence won’t be missed when his belly rumbles.
JANE (checking she has their names right). Rose. Mary. Do sound like a herb.
ROSE. ’Tis Grace you should ask about that. Cam on.
They go.
Scene Three
GRACE ’s home.
It is not a hovel, although it is sparse and has a hole in the roof. A pet frog is kept in a box in a corner of the room. GRACE is plucking a dead chicken. There are numerous jars and bottles containing every sort of herb around.
GRACE (mumbles angrily). You wreck our lives leaving us no recourse but to curse, for which we are condemned. We go to the scaffold cursing for the crime of cursing, and would take only a chicken with life wrung from it to be silent from cursing at the injustice of it all.
Enter JANE, MARY and ROSE.
ROSE. Is us Grace.
GRACE (lunging at JANE with the chicken carcass). Do this look like a place stuffed with Royals. Be off with you.
ROSE (standing between JANE and GRACE). Don’t take on, Grace – this, afore your eyes, be a woman. (Slight pause but GRACE doesn’t react.) By name of Jane.
GRACE. What’s she doing prynked out like a prick-eared cull?
MARY. For the war – is it not the most wondrous sight?
ROSE (proudly). A female soldier, wager you’d not thought you’d live to see the day.
GRACE. Par – you young women. There’s no hope.
ROSE (teasingly). What relief to find your spirit unruffled by your visitation.
GRACE. I have righted mess he made. Though, warrant, this neutered cock has seen its day. ’Tis only small misfortune and we can make good by it. Pass that pot, Mary.
MARY (in doing so she sees the frog). Oh, no Grace, you don’t still keep that frog.
GRACE. Good enough for most folks around here. Good enough for me.
JANE. In London they only keep cats and dogs.
GRACE. Cats and dogs cost dear to feed. Many’s the time children go without while animals grow fat and full.
Plays One Page 28