A new theatre piece from the activist, writer and performer Noelle Brown, and architect and performer Camille O'Sullivan, explores the history of Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland – but through an unusual lens.
Told through story and song, In Plain Sight tells the story of the incarceration and neglect of thousands of women in Roscrea, Castlepollard and Bessborough mother and baby homes by looking at the history and architecture of the buildings in which they were housed. These mid-sized mansions started out as family homes – albeit very grand ones.
Director Veronica Coburn introduces In Plain Sight below, while Noelle and Camille joined Sean Rocks in studio for RTÉ Arena - listen above.
Axis Ballymun. We're in the conference room, up the stairs, turn back the way you came, through the double doors and straight on until you can't go any further. That’s where we’re rehearsing Noelle Brown’s beautiful new piece, In Plain Sight. There’s a stack of cardboard boxes, a pair of elegant tea cups and a host of other props. Rehearsal rooms are nine parts coherence to one part chaos. This is week three. Next week we pack everything up and head across the country to our new home in Roscrea. In Plain Sight, an up to the minute exploration of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes, will be performed on site in the former Sacred Heart Convent and School in Roscrea which sits high on the hill overlooking the town.
There are lots of stories that we think we know. There are stories that we think belong to the past. That was then. What’s that got to do with now. But everything is connected. The present that we occupy is shaped by the past and the foundation of the future that we aspire to is laid down in the here and now. In recent years there have been press conferences, state apologies, new schemes, bills, talk of redress, isn’t it all sorted? And the answer is no.
How many times do we need to tell a story? That’s one of the thoughts underpinning In Plain Sight. And the truth is we need to stay with a story until it is finished. But we need to mind that story while we wait for resolution. Not wear it out, become immune to its urgency, become distracted by other things. The answer then is in the telling. Until a story no longer needs to be told we have to constantly find new ways to tell it so that we, society, can find new ways of encountering it.
Architecture. That is the lens through which In Plain Sight looks to let us meet this dark chapter of our history anew. Performed by artist, activist, survivor, Noelle Brown and mother, performer, architect, Camille O’Sullivan, In Plain Sight gently leads us through the physical buildings of some of Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes. We invite you to walk with us along once grand corridors, let us push open some doors, so that we can all understand what went on behind them, far away from prying eyes.
In Plain Sight is an ode to the women who were incarcerated in Ireland’s Mother and Baby Homes. It is an ode to their children. Featuring music and song by Denis Clohessy, it's a multi-sensory meditation on a story in search of a resolution. It’s up to us to shape the ending. We can ask for justice and transparency or we can look away and let the sins of the past, once again, be pushed back behind the façade of the beautiful buildings where they occurred.
Come join us in the Former Sacred Heart of Mary Convent in Roscrea, E53 KO63.
In Plain Sight will be performed at the Sacred Heart of Mary Convent, Roscrea from 8th – 12th July 2025 - find out more here, and listen to more from RTÉ Arena here
