Mud by Nicky Edwards

Jo Whelan, ex-Greenham Common, comes back to London to write a play about World War 1. She meets Ada Prince who was a munitions factory worker and whose husband was killed in the war. As Jo researches this man’s life for her play, she raises questions on the issues around peace and war—how women are used to keep the war machine going, whether peace camps work, or do they take women away from the real issues? Jo’s affair with Beryl seems to be used simply to create an area of debate for Jo’s mixed feelings about Greenham’s non-violence and Beryl’s adamant view of peace camps being a diversion for women. “These uncomfortable questions are not answered but left to the reader to come to her own decisions.