by Jessica Swale

directed by Max Walker

“They’ve disgraced our trade. Ruined our art. They’ve put a woman on the stage.”

     London, 1660. King Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, extravagant and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn is causing stirrings amongst the theatregoers.

     Nell Gwynn charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain's most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the King. But at a time when women are second-class citizens, can her charm and spirit protect her from the dangers of the Court?

     Jessica Swale's exhilarating take on the heady world of Restoration theatre premiered at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in September 2015, before transferring to the West End in February 2016, starring Gemma Arterton. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2016.

Thu 25th to Sat 27th July and    

Wed 31st July to Sat 3rd August 2024

   by Jessica Swale

directed by Gary Winn

“Touching and entertaining... Swale tells the story with both wit and a hint of righteous indignation”

     A moving, comical and eye-opening story of four young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women's suffrage.

     1896. Girton College, Cambridge, the first college in Britain to admit women. The Girton girls study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the women leave with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' - an unnatural, educated woman. They are denied degrees and go home unqualified and unmarriageable.

     In Jessica Swale's debut play, Blue Stockings, Tess Moffat and her fellow first years are determined to win the right to graduate. But little do they anticipate the hurdles in their way: the distractions of love, the cruelty of the class divide or the strength of the opposition, who will do anything to stop them. The play follows them over one tumultuous academic year, in their fight to change the future of education.

Blue Stockings received its professional premiere at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in August 2013.

Wed 6th to Sat 9th November 2024