An Triail

[6] The play is set in Ireland during the 1960s and deals with the pregnancy, and subsequent single motherhood, of a young woman, Máire Ní Chathasaigh.

She is shunned by her family after becoming impregnated by Pádraig, a married man and a teacher in the local school, and must leave her parish and move to Dublin to find work to support herself and her child, Pádraigín.

When she becomes pregnant, she is thrown out by her mother, and goes to Dublin, where she meets Mailí, a prostitute, who shows her kindness by telling her of the Social Worker's plans to give her baby up for adoption.

Máire rejects this plan, and after an accident that caused her house to collapse around her baby while she was at work, Mailí takes her in before she meets with Pádraig.

During their meetings and even when they met at the dance, he is constantly teasing and testing her, manipulating her, making her feel pity for him while enticing her all the more.

She tries to give Máire alcohol in order to abort the baby, and stands up in court defending this- "It's not a sin to put an end to something unclean, something damned by God and by people".

The show premiered in North America in its English translation at the University of Pittsburgh Stages Rauh Studio Theatre on April 19, 2019, directed by Nic Barilar.

It was presented as part of the Year of Pitt Global, featuring post-show talks from scholars of nearby universities specializing in Irish Culture.

Caitlín Maude, who played Máire in the original productiom of An Triail
Caitlín Maude, who played Máire in the original production of An Triail