The Welkin
Acclaimed British playwright Lucy Kirkwood (Chimerica, The Children) is known for writing about big issues and big ideas. So it’s particularly satisfying to have her hard-hitting play The Welkin receive its U.S. premiere courtesy of Nashville Story Garden — a small but mighty theater company known for making big, bold choices.
Set in 18th-century England, The Welkin centers on Sally Poppy, a young woman who has been sentenced to die for the grisly murder of a child. But when she claims to be pregnant, a “jury of matrons” is taken from their household duties to determine whether Poppy is telling the truth, or simply looking to save her own skin. It’s an ambitious tale, to be sure. And as always, Kirkwood is eager to dig into larger issues of truth, power and justice.
“The play may be set in 1759, but it’s not homework,” says director Halena Kays, citing the work’s darkly compelling humor and surprisingly modern themes. “I really don’t see it as a historical piece. To me, it’s more of a thriller — a page-turner. There’s so much insight into what has and hasn’t changed for women over these many years. And it takes a tough look at the way society sees and values the work that we do.
“[Kirkwood] gets into the minutia of these women’s day-to-day lives, and it’s through that lens that she’s able to ask these really big questions about what makes us human,” Kays continues. “It’s not just a female story — it’s a very human story. And it might seem heavy at first, but there’s such lightness in the way these women connect and interact. There’s such specificity in these characters that you instantly recognize them. It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, these are definitely people I know.’ ”
Kays says she is happy to be back in Nashville, having directed NSG’s excellent 2017 production of Love Song.
“I’ve always been so impressed by the wealth of acting talent here in Nashville,” says Kays, a Chicago-based director, deviser, performer and educator. She served as an assistant professor of directing at MTSU before becoming an assistant professor of graduate directing and acting at Northwestern University in 2018. “Nashville Story Garden has built a real community of actors, and we’re fortunate to have such an incredible cast.”
That cast feels a bit like a who’s-who of local talent, including Rachel Agee, Jessica Anderson, Lauren Berst, Rona Carter, Diego Gomez, Destinee Monét Johnson, Candace-Omnira LaFayette, Melodie Madden Adams, Megan Murphy Chambers, Matthew Rose, Melinda Sewak, Tamara Todres, Inez Vega-Romero, Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva and Ayla Williams.
“There’s so much talent and heart in this group,” Kays says. “It’s been wonderful to see the different generations connect — recognizing one another and inviting each other in. And it’s also interesting to see how much of themselves and their own experiences these actors are bringing to the work.”
Kays says she is eager for audiences to experience The Welkin at Riverside Revival — a former church that has been reimagined as a state-of-the-art event space.
“I really like the fact that this is a community space with a history all its own,” she says. “After all, the play is largely set in a public space or meeting hall, so I feel like this venue has the potential to lift up and really support the story. And my hope is that having the audience there, with us in that space, will make them feel like part of the conversation.”
Other upcoming performances:
• Nashville Opera’s La Bohème, Sept. 22-24 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall (nashvilleopera.org)
• Leland Gantt’s Rhapsody in Black, Sept. 23-25 at TPAC’s Andrew Johnson Theater (tpac.org)
• Nashville Ballet’s Cinderella, Oct. 6-9 at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theater (nashvilleballet.com)
• A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham’s An Untitled Love, Oct. 20-22 at OZ Arts (ozartsnashville.org)
• Nashville Rep’s The Cake, Oct. 21-30 at TPAC’s Andrew Johnson Theater (nashvillerep.org)
• Nashville Opera’s The Medium, Oct. 28-30 at the Noah Liff Opera Center (nashvilleopera.org)
• Hadestown, Nov. 1-6 at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall (tpac.org)
• Actors Bridge Ensemble’s When We Were Young and Unafraid, Nov. 4-13 at Actors Bridge Studio (actorsbridge.org)
• Nashville Ballet’sLive in Studio A, Nov. 4-13 at The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet (nashvilleballet.com)
• New Dialect and American Modern Opera Company’s Broken Theater, Nov. 17-19 at OZ Arts (ozartsnashville.org)
• Martha Redbone’s Bone Hill, Dec. 2-3 at OZ Arts (ozartsnashville.org)
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