Ripen our darkness

Sarah Daniels

Mary does not seem to be herself lately: the dinner is never ready on time, the shirts need to be sorted and she barely has the breakfast ready when it is time she was here with the tea. If that were not enough, she never makes it to Sunday service on time: and she the wife of a church warden. Pity her poor husband. In 'Ripen Our Darkness', Daniels casts an acerbic eye over the relationship between church and the state of the churchmen's marriages: from the put upon Mary, to the vocal Daphne. When behaviour is considered 'sin', Daniels surmises, we are not far from calling it insane. The play was premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, Upstairs, London, in 1981.