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One life in the hands of 12 women. A brilliant, at times humorous, tense history play, written by Lucy Kirkwood, looks at how women were treated in the 1700s and can be sentenced by a legal system that condemns a woman on a man’s word. It is 1759. Sally Poppy, a very angry young woman, is sentenced to hang for a very brutal murder of a child. Sally did not, however, act alone. Her male lover, who was also involved in the killing, is immediately tried and hanged, but although she is likewise condemned to death she "pleads her belly", meaning that she claims to be pregnant. A jury of 12 matrons are given just a few hours to decide whether Sally is telling the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. Only midwife Lizzy Luke is prepared to defend Sally and tries to convince the women that Sally is indeed pregnant.