Attachment review – adoption and the care system in a short monologue

Adoption and the care system are at the emotional centre of Julia Cranney’s new monologue. Mat (Paislie Reid) and her partner, James, enter early permanence — a pathway in which babies and toddlers are placed with prospective adopters who initially foster them, with the possibility the child could return to their birth family.

When we meet Mat she is isolated, working in a pharmacy and not keen on children; she then falls for James, bonds with his daughter and they begin planning a family. The script sheds valuable light on that process, but it hops through Mat’s life too quickly to make a potent impact.

Major events arrive in rapid succession — it takes over half the 70-minute running time for the adoption conversation to begin — and the emotions at each stage are not given room to breathe, leaving her backstory in need of greater clarity. Paislie Reid’s delivery largely stays at the same pace, with pauses landing line after line.

attachment, adoption, care system, early permanence, monologue, julia cranney, paislie reid, foster, birth family, pharmacy