Jessica Swale’s

Blue Stockings

Writer
Jessica Swale

Director
Georgia Green

Venue
The Sainsbury Theatre 

Dates
Thursday 1 April at 7:30pm
(live-streamed) 
Tuesday 6 April at 7:30pm 
(streamed as-live)

About the show

“They say you don’t have the capacity to be scholars. So read everything. Learn everything. Know the philosophers, and then think for yourselves.”  

It’s 1896 and four young women have just begun their studies at Girton College, Cambridge. They may not yet have the right to a degree like their male peers, but they are still determined to study the sciences, learn about the world and evade their chaperones. 

Turned away from lectures and dismissed as ‘blue-stockings’, they are challenged by teachers and family alike – forcing them to confront everything that stands in their way, including their own ideas. 

Jessica Swale is an Olivier award-winning playwright, film-maker and director. She trained at Central School of Speech and Drama and Exeter University. 

She was listed in Variety Magazine’s Top Ten Brits to Watch in 2019 for her forthcoming work in film and inducted into BAFTA. 

As a playwright, her first play Blue Stockings (Shakespeare’s Globe) won her a nomination for Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright and is now on the GCSE Drama syllabus. Her second play Nell Gwynn (2016) transferred from Shakespeare’s Globe to the West End starring Gemma Arterton and won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. She is currently writing the screenplay for Working Title. 

Jessica is an associate artist with NGO Youth Bridge Global, author of a best-selling series of drama games books and she is also involved in Times Up UK, actively campaigning for greater equality and diversity across theatre and film. 

Georgia Green is a director and writer who trained at the Orange Tree Theatre and Goldsmiths University, London. Her work looks to bring to life bold and surprising stories that make you think and make you feel alive. Previous work includes The Mikvah Project (The Orange Tree Theatre and BBC Radio Four) for which she was nominated as Best Director at The Stage Debut Awards 2020. 

Includes themes of an adult nature, smoke and haze, and use of theatrical pyrotechnics.

Photos: Alex Brenner

Creative team

Director
Georgia Green

Assistant Director
Belle Bao

Set and Costume Designer
Cory Shipp

Lighting Designer
Jess Bernberg

Assistant Lighting Designer
Jahmiko Marshall

Sound Designer
​​​​Alice Boyd

Assistant Sound Designer
Kirsty Robson

Voice Coach
Stevie Rickard

Movement Director
Christina Fulcher

Cast

Mr. Banks
Harry Cadby

Celia
Emma Cooney

Miss. Bott, ​​​Dr. Maudsley, Mrs. Lindley
Sarah Farrell

Carolyn
​​​​​Lanihuli Gilbert

Maeve, Lady
Lucy Gray

Holmes, Billy
Gruff Harries

Tess
Lucy Havard

Miss. Blake
Marie Kizonzolo-Fruchart

Minnie, Librarian
Caroline Letelier

Ralph, Prof. Collins, Mr Peck
Ross McShane

Edwards, Prof. Radleigh
Daniel Rock

Will
Joshua Rogers

Mrs. Welsh
Lilly Walker

Lloyd, Anderson
Piper Zbryski-Livingstone

Production team

Production Manager
Maria Dedio 

Stage Manager
Molly Goodison

Deputy Stage Manager
Anna Eagle

Assistant Stage Manager
Lucas Harle
Alyssia Jones
Ewen Roberts

Chief Electrician
Ben Garcia

LX Programmer
Luca Panetta

Lighting Crew
Robert Brown
Avery Elliot
Marcus Grove
Sophia Markou
Daisy Simmons
Callum Watson

Production Sound Engineer
Hattie North 

Sound Assistant
Finn Beirne
Jas Fuller
Rebecca Harris
Calum Priestley
Steph Siraut

Production Carpenter
Cormac Sheridan

Deputy Production Carpenter
Charli Stephens-King
Rory Zammit

Construction Crew
​​​​​Megan Bishop
Emily Compton
Olivia Dunne
Claudia Penna Rojas

Wardrobe Supervisor
Sabia Smith

Wardrobe Assistant
Sian Clare

Streaming Supervisor
Nevy Kusokora

Photos: SRTaylor Photography