Abstract Documentary theatre is a genre in which real sources and events are used and edited to become the form of dramatic texts and performances. The personal experiences narrated in No Escape (2010),a documentary play by Mary Raftery, have shocked many people, due to the play’s multiple graphic descriptions of child abuse which took place in industrial schools and orphanages in Ireland. This article analyses how pain is presented in No Escape, by contrasting the language used, in their respective lines in the play, by authorities, victims, and representatives of the institutions. Pain, as a physical and psychological sensation, is a subject that still needs to be examined further in discussing the history of Ireland, to provide scholars and society with an opportunity to reflect upon this subject – and, perhaps, achieve healing.