Love or knowledge: which would you choose? This was the dilemma faced by university women students well into the 20th Century. Girton College, Cambridge, was one of the first colleges in Britain to admit women. The ladies match their male peers grade for grade but they are not allowed to graduate. They leave university stigmatised as ‘blue stockings’ – without degrees and unmarriageable; regarded as ‘unnatural, educated women’. The year is 1896 and the lively play tells the story of Tess Moffat and a group of ‘first-years’ determined to win the right to a degree. Their story is followed over one tumultuous year as they encounter the many hurdles in their way - the class divide, misogyny, and the university opposition – not to mention the distractions of love. Finally the whole issue is put to the vote… Tickets £10 (£8 concession)
This was the dilemma faced by university women students well into the 20th Century.
Girton College, Cambridge, was one of the first colleges in Britain to admit women. The ladies match their male peers grade for grade but they are not allowed to graduate. They leave university stigmatised as ‘blue stockings’ – without degrees and unmarriageable; regarded as ‘unnatural, educated women’.
The year is 1896 and Jessica Swale’s lively play tells the story of Tess Moffat and a group of ‘first-years’ determined to win the right to a degree. Their story is followed over one tumultuous year as they encounter the many hurdles in their way - the class divide, misogyny, and the university opposition – not to mention the distractions of love. Finally the whole issue is put to the vote…
Shakespeare’s Globe was packed to the rafters when Blue Stockings was first produced in 2013. Currently it is performed by theatre companies up and down the country and is hugely popular with players and audiences alike.
Don’t miss this chance to see what promises to be a highly entertaining and thought provoking evening.
An amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books
