Join us for Mercury Reads a series of lively rehearsed readings celebrating local voices and fresh new writing. Each event spotlights an exciting playwright from our region, giving audiences the chance to see new stories take shape for the very first time.

In this session, join us in the Café Bar on Thu 20 Nov at 4pm as we look at Kynochtown by Vickie Donoghue. On the banks of the river Thames, hidden within the Essex marshes, is a thriving explosives factory. Within it are the women of Kynochtown. With the men away fighting on the battlefield, it is the women who must step up into the dangerous roles that have been left vacant.

This play is about the female impact on this dangerous industry and how the history that those women made, once victory was had in WW1, disappeared into the marshes as fast as it had appeared. And with the smoke, the canteen banter and the constant threat of explosions, it was also the women’s troubles, their sacrifices, their love and their loss that were all lost to the mud.

Inspired by the true story of the brave women from Kynoch Explosives Factory in Essex, Kynochtown sets out to readdress the fact that women are seldom remembered in history. Their part in significant historical events is frequently minimised. This play will shine a light on a group of women who changed everything and nothing. Their struggle is still our struggle. This play is about friendship. Motherhood. And survival.