Reminder of dark ages in 1960s

Jun 17 2009 by Barbara Hodgson, The Journal

Barbara Hodgson hears about a play born from society’s shame

PREGNANCY bumps in place, the cast of Gala Theatre’s latest play stopped traffic in Durham with an Abbey Road-style photo-shoot.

In a flashback to the 60s, the actresses were all in the regulation green “smocks” they’ll be wearing as residents of a church-run mother and baby home in Be My Baby.

Amanda Whittington’s play, opening tomorrow, promises humour plus upbeat soundtracks from that time, but it actually reflects a rather grim episode in our social history – a sharp reminder, should we need one in these tough times, that things could always be worse.

The era wasn’t all about The Beatles, flower power and freedom. Mother and baby homes were a common but little-talked-about reality of 1950s and 60s Britain. Set up to facilitate the adoption of children born outside marriage, the truth was that young girls were often cajoled into going there by parents fearing public shame.

Some such homes – which were Church of England as well as Catholic – still existed in the 70s, points out Simon Stallworthy, director of Gala Theatre where we meet, along with two members of his first all-female cast. Sheffield-based actress Beatrice Comins is playing Mrs Adams, the mother of the main character, 19-year-old Mary, who is single and seven months pregnant.

Beatrice, 47, says that as a child she was aware of the existence of these homes.

“They were all over the place,” she recalls. “Everyone knew that ‘big house’ at the end of the street was a mother and baby house.

“Pregnant girls would go there to be kept out of the way.

“I remember, when I was a child growing up in the 60s, my mother getting rid of household furniture and domestic items and she used to send them to mother and baby homes.”