Motherhood, especially in the early days, offers a myriad of wonders and challenges. Perhaps hardest of all is carrying out the most difficult task you will ever do, on the least sleep you will ever have. In this heartbreaking new one-woman play by Sophie Swithinbank, we find a mother for whom the additional complexities of parenting alone take sleep deprivation to a dangerous place.

We first meet our protagonist in prison, where she’s reconnecting with her 12-year-old daughter after years apart. Neither of them knows what to say or how to be and, until the end of this precious hour, are unable to touch. Performer Phoebe Ladenburg perfectly captures the bodily ache any mother would feel being unable to embrace their child, especially after such a separation. We can sense in her eyes, face and frame the confusion of having an absolute connection with the person in front of you, but no idea how to communicate with them.

The action jumps from present day to the fateful moment 11 years earlier when social services deemed the child unsafe and took her into care. A seemingly open and shut case as far as the courts are concerned, is of course massively nuanced. With nobody to look out for the mother (her mental wellbeing, tiredness, financial situation), any child is in danger, but prison hardly feels like a solution as this powerful play demonstrates. 

Surrender, Summerhall, until 26 August, 1.55pm; main picture: Aly Wright.