The Whipping Act

$5.40 – $15.00

Set in the 16th century, based on legislation that when a young woman became pregnant before marrying she faced a Church Court, was draped in a white sheet, and made to confess her sins before her neighbours. The punishment was that she be whipped. The play follows the interrogation of one such, Tess, a peasant girl who speaks poetically against her sentence, but is still whipped. The church is burnt, Tess's mother is named a witch because she cursed the church elders. Todd, the boatman, Tess's lover returns and helps them escape. (6 speaking parts: 3m, 3f. 5 non-speaking parts, mostly women.)

APT