Past Shows
Marge & Jules
"Power and deeply thoughtful"
Professor John McGavin, University of Southampton
"Beautifully crafted... An easy balance of comic and serious - a positively Medieval skill, Chaucer does it too!"
Dr Diana Wyatt, Durham University
"A rare sensibility to Medieval texts and a capacity to make sense of them for a contemporary audience"
Professor Guillemette Bolens, University of Geneva
Performed by Sarah Anson & Máirín O'Hagan
Directed by Andrew Brock
"Sins spins a false story... love is the true story"
In a world ruled by sin and punishment, two extraordinary women dare to redefine faith. Illiterate yet visionary Margery Kempe (mother of fourteen and author of the first autobiography in English) seeks guidance from Julian of Norwich — a mystic and anchoress who has wedded herself to God, living enclosed in a small cell for the rest of her life.
As their worlds collide, Marge & Jules brings to life their historic meeting. In Julian’s cell, her radical belief in a God of love, not fear, begins to reshape Margery’s world. As spiritual enlightenment meets the darker stories of life in the Middle Ages, the women confess all; talking faith, life, afterlife, semantics, erotics, and the mysteries of the Man they love...
Previously performed at: University of Oxford, King's College Chapel, VAULT Festival, University of Geneva, Birkbeck College London, Queen Mary University of London, Playbox Theatre Warwick, as well as churches and conferences across Cardiff, Canterbury and Bury St Edmunds.
Lady Percy
"A really beautiful play... A joy to listen to"
Jessica Lusk, Shakespeare's Globe
"This should absolutely be happening on the Main Stage at the Globe"
Ramin Sabi, producer
A finalist for the American Shakespeare Center's 'Shakespeare's New Contemporaries' competition
Directed by Rafaella Marcus
Music by Jeff Carpenter
"Let’s tell them her story then, give it a go;
’Tis more fruitful, it seems, than a tale of man’s woe..."
Summer, 1402. Northumbria. Trouble is stirring and Lady Percy knows it. Outside the castle walls, border clans raid and fire the countryside mercilessly. Inside, her furious husband Hotspur rails against a cunning King who, helped to his throne by the Percys, now refuses to pay their men.
When Lady Percy’s brother is captured by a family of Welsh rebels, rumoured to be masters of old Celtic magic, a series of dangerous events are set in motion. With rebellion inevitable, Hotspur leaves his lady in charge of the castle. There’s a lot more to her story than his story records...
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry IVs, Queynte Laydies spin the British history play on its head — serving up a bold, fast-paced tale of rebellion, magic, and a woman finally taking centre stage where history left her out.
Previously performed at: Seven Dials Club, Covent Garden and Fletcher Collins Theatre, Virginia, USA.
The Life & Opinions of Mary Read, Gentlewoman Pirate
Supported by Wilton's Music Hall's Plays Without Décor R&D scheme
Directed by Máirín O'Hagan
Music by Sophie Crawford
Mesdames et Messieurs... Those most honourable and truthful of raconteurs, the Queynte Laydies, do hereby present a fantastical history of acclaimed harlot and criminal, mistress Mary Read who, disguising her woman’s breasts, godlessly did maraud upon the seas, conducting scandalous acts of piracy, sexual deviance and all manner of unholiness, in acts that to speak of will astound the ear…
When Mary’s ship is attacked by pirates, she has a choice: resist... or join the infamous crew?
Dressed as her dead brother from birth, the illegitimate Mary — alias Mark — was never going to follow in her mother’s footsteps, selling her body for bread. Instead, her upbringing in breeches lets her choose a different body and a different life. The Golden Age of piracy beckons; as does the freedom promised by a life upon the seven seas.
But freedom doesn’t come without its challenges.
Leopardess
"Leopardess is a comedy indeed, but also one that left me with considerable some food for thought... not only successful, it's impressive"
LondonTheatre1
Sketch comedy previously performed at VAULT Festival and Canal Café Theatre, London.
Directed by Máirín O'Hagan
Performed by Rosie Abraham, Rosie Frecker & Sarah Anson
