Cleft – A Free Audio Play

Rough Magic and Hatch Pictures are delighted to present Cleft, a new audio play by Fergal McElherron which is free to listen to below, and on Spotify.

Cleft is a visceral story of one family’s unrelenting will to survive – and ultimately to make choices based on instinct.

Cleft, starring Simone Kirby and Penny Layden, was originally produced as a stage show in 2019 with its world premiere in glór followed by performances in the Galway International Arts Festival and the Kilkenny Arts Festival.

This new audio experience, reimagined by writer Fergal McElherron, director Lynne Parker, and sound designer Joe Hunt, tells the story of Fea and Caireen, twin sisters living on a harsh, remote island, raising a boy together. Abandoned by their mother at a young age and left in their teens to fend for themselves by their troubled father, the women have created their own emotional ecosystem. While Caireen embraces motherhood, Fea struggles as she watches the boy grow in the likeness of his father whose body lies buried beneath the hawthorn tree.

Listen above, or visit Spotify by clicking here. View our digital programme here to find out more about the cast, creatives and the original stage production!

Please note that this audio play contains references to sexual assault.

Rough Magic is supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.