Review: Blue Stockings at Gladstone Theatre

“…entertaining, thought-provoking, and genuinely moving…”

Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale, Gladstone Theatre

By Melissa Molloy

Blue Stockings, performed by the Bebington Dramatic Society at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight, left me feeling genuinely moved. The importance of this story and making sure it is heard is something I wasn’t even aware of until watching this play. This is a community theatre doing exactly what community theatres should do – telling important stories with care, commitment, and compassion.

I went on opening night and was pleasantly surprised to see that the audience almost filled Gladstone Theatre. The impressive turnout is a testament to the reputation this company has built for itself locally. The atmosphere in the theatre before curtain up was full of happy chatter and the anticipation that something exciting was about to happen. It did not disappoint.

What made the evening even more special was the cause it served. Ticket proceeds from the first night were donated in full to St Vincent’s charity, which supports disadvantaged children across the Wirral. The company raised an impressive £2,000 and a raffle during the interval added to that total. It would be easy to just talk about the play itself and brush over this, but the impact it will have on children’s lives is dramatic and it definitely needed a special mention.

Now onto the play itself – Blue Stockings is a production that stands entirely on its own merits. Written by Jessica Swale, the story is set in Cambridge in the 1890s, at a pivotal moment in the history of women’s education. The ‘Blue Stockings’ of the title were the female scholars of Girton College. They were women who had fought for, and won, the right to attend lectures and tutorials at one of England’s most prestigious universities. The catch – and it was a considerable one – was that they could not graduate and be awarded a degree at the end of their course. The Blue Stockings faced a choice: pursue an education and risk being considered unmarriageable by men who found intellectual women unsettling, or abandon it and settle for a life of domesticity. The idea that scholarly ambition was somehow in direct competition with being a wife and mother now seems absurd, but it was a view held by a significant portion of the population, including many women.

This play does not shy away from any of this. It presents the argument on both sides, while making it entirely clear where our sympathies should lie. It was gripping and at times quite upsetting to see how much men controlled the narrative of societal expectations. Blue Stockings really did this topic justice.

Productions of any size draw actors of varying experience, and Blue Stockings is no exception, but what could have easily been perceived as an uneven ensemble instead felt like a well-established theatrical company, with stronger performers generously supporting those still finding their feet. The characters were well played and distinct. You never lose track of who anyone is or what they stand for. There were moments across the evening where individual actors commanded the stage with a confidence and emotional precision that would not have looked out of place in a professional production, and these need a specific mention: Elizabeth Welsh, played by Philippa Hipwell; Mr Banks, played by Matt Kasprazak; and Lloyd, played by Adam Comer.

The staging was sensibly and effectively handled. Here, the team made smart choices: enough distinction between the various locations to make the environment readable and believable, without overreaching. Scene changes were kept to a minimum where possible, and where they were necessary they were executed with efficiency and minimal disruption to the dramatic flow. This is the kind of behind-the-scenes coordination that audiences rarely notice when it goes well, and only notice when it goes badly. Here it went well.

Costume deserves a mention of its own. The period detail was consistent and convincing throughout. There was never a moment of doubt about when and where we were – the late Victorian world of frock coats and floor-length skirts and an air of barely-contained propriety was established from the first scene and maintained throughout. This kind of visual coherence matters more than it is sometimes given credit for. It grounds the audience in the world of the play and allows the story to breathe without distraction.

Blue Stockings is a play that asks to be taken seriously, and the Bebington Dramatic Society have taken it seriously. The result is an evening of theatre that is entertaining, thought-provoking, and genuinely moving. The story it tells, while being simply a slice of time, is told here with the kind of commitment that reminds you why theatre matters. The Gladstone Theatre is a small venue doing important work in supporting local arts, and productions like this are exactly why it deserves your support. If you are in the area while this run continues, you must go. Take someone who claims they don’t like theatre. They’ll come round.

Blue Stockings plays at Gladstone Theatre until Saturday 13 June. Tickets are available here.

Melissa Molloy is currently masquerading as a special needs teacher, having previously spent 10 years teaching English, media studies and drama. In her spare time, she offers editorial reviews, beta-reads and guidance to new authors who wish to self-publish their writing. In lieu of sleeping, Melissa often finds herself with her head buried in her laptop – slowly writing her first novel. When she isn’t drowning in work, Melissa can be found paddleboarding and kayaking in local lakes, usually accompanied by at least one or two of her four children.