Following a busy and successful 2025 programme of events with the theme of Arrivals, Liverpool Irish Festival is delighted to share relevant new work from Derry-based theatre company Sole Purpose Productions, coming to The Unity Theatre in early 2026.
Programmed in connection with the rising in interest in Brigid’s Day, this will be the Festival’s contribution to widening the conversation about women’s experiences, continuing our programming strand centred on In:Visible Women. The Festival’s 2025 offer included the Renewing Roots exhibition, created by Fréa in collaboration with survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes, exploring the lingering impact of their experiences on identity and belonging. Visitors of Renewing Roots may be particularly interested in Sole Purpose Productions’ latest work, The Marian Hotel.
The performance is 120-minutes with a short interval. Please note, on Fri 6 Feb, there will be a post-show Q&A will Dr Phil Scraton, lasting until roughly 10.15pm. This will not be available on Sat 7 Feb. On Sat 7 Feb, the production will be audio described and a BSL interpreter will be present. These features will not be available on Fri 6 Feb. Please book with these factors in mind.
From the directors
It’s 1979, Kitty is pregnant. She is on her own, not by choice.
She arrives in a mother and baby home. Nothing could have prepared her for this. The young women hold each other up with sharp, dark humour against the backdrop of the war in the North of Ireland.
The Marian Hotel had a sold out tour in 2024 for 14 shows across the North of Ireland. It received standing ovations and critical acclaim. Extra shows and venues were booked due to public demand.
The play is based on Caitriona Cunningham’s lived experience of being in Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry. It was developed over a year with dramaturg Emily DeDakis and a group of actors. It is a searing portrayal of a dark time in Irish history with a 70s/80s soundtrack. The inquiry in the North of Ireland has begun. This play is a call to all impacted to come forward and raise their voices so that they may never again be silenced and shamed for being human. The magnificent cast will take you on a journey that is mesmerising and intensely moving.
“I left the theatre deeply moved, feeling as if a weight had lifted. The writer has given us an unforgettable gift” Mark McCollum, adoptee.
Gallery
All images are by Gav Connolly (detail only).
Reviews
“The Marian Hotel is hard-hitting, but Cunningham takes full advantage of theatre’s dimensionality to create a shared sympathetic experience between performers and audience, effectively blending humour and drama. We see beyond the headlines, and beautiful performances from the actors impact the audience in a way a BBC Panorama special couldn’t. In particular, the introduction of one of the supporting characters, Ellen (Rachel Harley), had every member of the chatty, fidgety, post-COVID audience pale-faced and silent. For me, the standout performance amongst other excellent portrayals was Sorcha Shanahan as Jackie, a woman born to a Marianvale resident. The play shows us Jackie’s life vignetted, following her from childhood to tracking down her birth mother in adulthood. Shanahan brought sincerity and urgency to the role and her memorable performance highlighted the often-forgotten generational victims of Marianvale.”
Lucy Hughes, The Gown
“All the actors excel, so too Kitty whose incomprehension at some of the nuns’ casual cruelty speaks volumes. The scene where she confides her fear of impending childbirth is moving. Rachel Harley as Ellen, the child, the most shocking case study of all, is a study in a kind of innocence. And Roma Harvey’s Sinead, the young widow with another child on the way she can’t keep, is also outstanding.”
Jane Hardy, Belfast Times Magazine
“Stand-out performances capture the precarity of pre-liberation womanhood, the degradation of being told what’s best for you. But where the writing and stagecraft reach perfection is in the creation of ‘Jackie’ (Sorcha Shanahan), whose loving parents adopted her in circumstances which are unclear. Her arc is separated from Marianvale, in time, character, and in presentation: she appears alone for interspersed monologues. Little does she know, as she wrestles with her identity, that she is not alone in searching for answers. We all are. For we averted our eyes far too long.”
John Moriarty, The Seamus Heaney Centre
“As the son of one of these women, I found myself moved beyond words by the nuanced portrayals. The echoes of my own family’s experience were palpable—both heart-wrenching and, in an unexpected way, healing. The writer’s work gives voice to those who were silenced, allowing us, the children and relatives of these women, to confront our own histories with empathy and shared resilience. The production itself was brilliantly staged and directed by Patricia Byrne from Sole Purpose Productions. The minimalistic set design and haunting soundscape drew us into the confined world of The Marian Hotel, underscoring the feeling of being trapped yet yearning for freedom. The cast delivered powerful, authentic performances that brought Cunningham’s words to life without a hint of exaggeration. The Marian Hotel is more than just a play; it’s a cathartic experience, a call for acknowledgment, and a tribute to all the mothers, daughters, and children affected by this history. I left the theatre deeply moved, feeling as if a weight had lifted. The writer has given us an unforgettable gift, one that will resonate with generations who carry the memories of Marianvale and other places like it.”
Mark McCollum, adoptee
“I have seen The Marian Hotel in Newry, Derry and Belfast and each time was moved by the excellence of Caitríona’s writing, Patricia’s direction and the cast’s brilliant performance. It has taken the hidden realities of mother and baby institutions, Magdalene Laundries and workhouses to a wide audience … I think that this tour is the beginning.”
Professor Phil Scraton, Truth Recovery Design Panel
The production is supported by Arts Council England, Culture Ireland and donations from the public. Sole Purpose is core funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
