A Dublin theatre company is preparing to tackle the Magdalene legacy and autism struggles in a new emotional play called Breaking Deep.
The raw play is centred around the Magdalene legacy on vulnerable children and women in Ireland.
The stage production was written by Nicola Whelan and her child, Ion Whelan, and it will take place at the Smock Alley Theatre.
Nicola told Dublin Live: “It’s a story of a family who are trying to get support for a child, it’s the struggles and consequences of the institutions.
“On the surface, the play is about a mother trying to help her son navigate through the services and support available for families and children with autism and with mental health illnesses.
“It’s the effect of what happens to them on their journey by all these outside influences, the issues that they’re both having when they’re fighting for what they need.
“The message behind it is that the State and the institutions that people have to deal where you’re very much left on your own, everything is a fight and the energy it takes to fight on something that you’re supposed to be entitled to.
"It affects families as a whole because the roles change, the family dynamics change.
“My journey with my own family inspired me to write the play. I co-wrote it with my eldest child who is 18 and we’re looking back at their journey. It was really important to tell the story.
“I would never seek to speak as someone who has neurodivergence or has autism, it was really important to me that the person with autism had their story told by a person who went through that journey so that part is written by Ion.”
Nicola continued: “At some point of everyone's life in Ireland, the Magdalene legacy has impacted them.
"It is a part of the fabric of our culture and it’s woven into and poisoned our institutions in terms of how women and children's rights were taken away.
“Things are changing and people are demanding more support and services.
“Those women were put away and hidden behind walls and they weren’t a part of society and it’s the same for a lot of carers for people with disabilities or illnesses, where you’re stuck in your house, away from society in the same way the young girls and women were for decades.
“We didn’t really know what was going on in the laundries, just like we don’t know what’s going on in houses of people with carers and sick people.
"There’s a lot of similarities with the two different journeys."
Breaking Deep has a content warning due to the mention of suicide and self harm, meaning it is suitable for audiences aged 16 or over.
The performance will take place at Smock Alley Theatre’s Scene and Heard Festival of New Work on Saturday February 12th at 2pm. Tickets are available on the Smock Alley website
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