The Bluestocking
AT A GLANCE...
A book musical about one young woman's battle to fend for herself at Oxford University in 1920. Communist agitators, debates in the union, May balls, punting escapades and more! A light-hearted but moving musical with a serious message at its heart.
Roles: 4m, 4f, large chorus (including 8 other speaking roles)
Music: 22 songs, orchestrated for 12-piece band
OVERVIEW
The Bluestocking follows Mary Mason, a young woman from London’s East End, as she embarks upon her career at Oxford University. She and her fellow ‘undergraduettes’ battle to break into the male-dominated university world, but emotional entanglements and politics make this more than just a battle of minds.
This is a musical somewhat in the spirit of My Fair Lady, but with a significantly more jazz-based score. The college setting, with the ‘blues’ (men) and the ‘bluestockings’ (women) also has shades of Grease. The themes are timeless: love, equality and how to reconcile those two things in an unequal world. Though not a musical comedy as such, there is plenty of humour within the drama.
The casting is ideal for a school, college, drama school or amateur society, with opportunities for older actors, if required. The score is fully orchestrated for a 12-piece band.
Click below for more detailed information or scroll down to listen to some song samples.
Watch the teaser above to see excerpts from the original 2013 production
'I found The Bluestocking to be beautifully written in many ways – most outstandingly, the songs, which had truly inventive and inspired rhymes, and tunes that were running through my head all the way home.'
Oxford Daily Info
'Huge congratulations to you for 'The Bluestocking', and to everyone involved for such a great evening. The play is beautifully crafted; the music was sassy; everyone was completely engaged, on both sides of the proscenium arch, and the audience went away exhilarated and knowing a bit more about an important period in history than they did before. In other words, it was all a great musical should be. BRAVO. And front-row tickets for the West-End transfer, please.'
Jane Robinson, author of ‘Bluestockings: the women who fought for an education’
The book is so witty […] your company obviously adored working on the piece and that resonated through the work.’
RSC Associate, Joanne Pearce