Last night our biennial Sixth Form production, Jessica Swale’s Blue Stockings, opened to a sold-out audience in the Mitre Theatre.
Blue Stockings tells the story of an aspiring scientist called Tess (Upper Sixth student Fatima) as she and her female peers campaign for the right to graduate alongside their male counterparts at the University of Cambridge in 1896.
We were honoured to welcome Jessica herself, who joined us for a pre-show Q&A (ably hosted by Lower Sixth students Sapphy and James) before watching the show. Jessica spoke beautifully about her experience and processes when writing the play ahead of its debut in 2013, she considered the relevance of the play’s themes today and tried to answer the key question from the play when posed it by a member of the audience: would you choose love or knowledge?
Despite its Victorian setting, last night’s audiences were struck by the contemporary feel and the surprising relevance of the play today.
Fatima led the cast superbly, and it was a joy to see such a technically beautiful production so well managed by the student team backstage. Jessica was kind enough to stay and chat to the cast afterwards to congratulate them on a job well done.
Director of Drama and the production, Miss Robinson says, “For the Olivier Award-winning playwright to describe the opening night as ‘magic’ is such an accomplishment for this cast and crew: students have worked exceptionally hard to overcome some of the most challenging dialogue we’ve ever asked of students in a school play, and it was wonderful to see their hard work pay off last night. Now to summon the audience to do it all again for tonight and tomorrow’s matinee!”
A huge thank you to Jessica, and to James and Sapphy for hosting, and a massive congratulations to the cast and crew on a wonderful opening night.
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