National Theatre Live: The Welkin

Synopsis: James Macdonald directs Maxine Peake in this new play by Lucy Kirkwood. In rural Suffolk in 1759, a young woman is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of 12 matrons must decide whether she’s telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. With only the midwife prepared to defend the girl, and a mob baying for blood, the matrons wrestle with their new authority, and the devil in their midst.