Overview

If only you'd arrived at your-God-could-be-a-woman theory three hundred years earlier. You'd still be a best seller. From Shelagh Stephenson, one of the country’s most prominent and acclaimed playwrights, comes this outrageous new play that digs deep into the North East’s radical roots. When pioneering feminist Mary Astell (born in Newcastle) meets Virginia Woolf in the afterlife, the result is a riotous, thought-provoking clash of minds. Packed with big ideas, bigger laughs, and joyful feminist fire, it’s a rare spotlight on Astell – a visionary often left out of the history books. Deep, funny, and unapologetically smart – this is feminism with flair, right back in the North East, where it all began for Astell. This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere production at Live Theatre, Newcastle, in May 2026.

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9781350646254

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Author Information

Shelagh Stephenson was born in Northumberland and read drama at Manchester University. Her first stage play, The Memory of Water, premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 1996 and subsequently transferred to the West End, where it won an Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2000. Her second play, An Experiment With An Air Pump, opened at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. It was joint recipient of the Peggy Ramsay Award and later transferred to the Hampstead Theatre. Both plays subsequently ran at New York's Manhattan Theatre Club. Her third play, Ancient Lights, was produced at Hampstead Theatre in December 2000.

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