LAST TWO SHOWS TODAY! Click HERE to buy your tickets from the Theatre Royal Nelson Box Office.
We’re incredibly excited to share the first full review of Nelson Repertory Theatre’s Blue Stockings. Reviewer Jake Danson joined us at the Theatre Royal and described the production as:
“Spirited, intelligent and moving.”
Here is his review in full:
Nelson Repertory Theatre’s Blue Stockings places a company inside one of history’s darker absurdities. At Girton College in 1896, women may study the same books as Cambridge men and sit the same examinations; only the degree must remain safely beyond the reach of their dangerous female hands.
Jessica Swale’s drama follows four first-year students, drawing its warmth from their contrasting personalities. Alice Rozga’s Tess, restless, romantic, intoxicated by science, is the engine.
Rozga catches her intellectual appetite and youthful susceptibility to Scott Sumby’s Ralph, whose polished attentions prove cheaper than they first appear. Kathryn Martin gives Celia caution, loyalty and emotional ballast, while Tyler Booysen’s Maeve, a student whom poverty threatens to evict from opportunity, supplies the play’s most painful human argument.
As the cosmopolitan Carolyn, Grace Omer-McWalter comes perilously close to stealing the evening. With assurance and beautifully judged timing, she makes Carolyn’s every entrance feel like a welcome disturbance. Together, the four actors create a persuasive fellowship: competitive, affectionate and vividly alive.
Around them, the supporting company gives patriarchy several faces. Christopher Hatfield is a standout as Dr Maudsley, delivering theories about women’s bodies with the authority of a man untroubled by doubt. Tegan Ure gives Lloyd’s hostility a dangerous heat; Sumby lets charm conceal Ralph’s cowardice; and Mira Kienzle’s Will offers gentler masculinity without becoming implausibly modern. These men are funniest, and most alarming, when convinced of their own reasonableness.
Lynley Bradshaw’s Mrs Welsh is the evening’s moral hinge. Formidable yet restrained, she protects Girton by appeasing the institution that degrades it. Ngaire Warner’s Miss Blake supplies steel and impatience, while Keith Marshall’s Mr Banks brings decency, humour and the infectious pleasure of teaching. Their conflict asks not whether progress should come, but how politely it must knock.
Hugh Neill directs with clarity and trust in his ensemble. Scenes move cleanly, while the company negotiates Swale’s changes of tone. From bicycle comedy and can-can exuberance to humiliation and mob violence, with admirable assurance. This is community theatre behaving communally: a company carrying the argument together.
Swale occasionally lets exposition show its petticoat, and some characters are drawn more swiftly than deeply. Yet the production’s conviction carries us past these small seams. When the campaign fails, the evening delivers its quietest blow: Cambridge withheld full degrees from women until 1948.
Blue Stockings is spirited, intelligent and moving. Nelson Repertory’s actors give history faces, voices and bruised hopes, and make equality’s long delay feel newly outrageous.
— Jake Danson
Thank you, Jake, for taking the time to join us and put your thoughts into words — and congratulations to our entire cast, crew and production team.
Jessica Swale also wrote “Nell Gwyn”, which I directed for Wakefield Country Players 7 years ago. Swale has a reputation for writing stories about strong, inspiring women. This is partly what draws me to theatre, scripts that draw on history and at the same time have something to say about society. Hugh Neill (Director)
It takes a strong team to stage community theatre. Could you be more involved? Have a look at the ‘job descriptions’ page; this could be just the thing you are looking for.
It doesn’t need to be a committee position, you can volunteer for any aspect. Marketing skills are always really welcome, along with Tech skills.
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20th-22nd NOVEMBER 2026 – PANTO TIME
We can’t bee-lieve it… Buzzz the Pantomime is celebrating its 10th anniversary!
Spring has arrived, but something is badly wrong in the hive. The Queen Bee has vanished, and rumours are swirling faster than a wasp at a picnic. Could the wicked Bizzy Lizzy, Queen of the Wasps, be behind it all?
Packed with laughter, music, mayhem, and plenty of audience participation, this locally written family pantomime is the perfect treat for ages 3 to 103. Whether you’re planning a festive family outing or a buzzing Christmas party night with workmates, Buzzz is the feel-good event everyone will be talking about.
Cheer for the goodies, boo the baddies, dodge the slapstick chaos, and sing along at the top of your lungs, because in pantomime, the audience is part of the show. Yes, that means YOU!
This specially updated anniversary production brings back favourite jokes, all the puns, and introduces some brand-new characters.
At the heart of the fun is a message that matters: bee-lieve in yourself, because even the smallest bee can make a big difference.
Nelson Repertory Theatre 