Overview

'As long as you only have one sort of person telling the stories, well then our world will just end up looking very like that one sort of person. It makes sense, doesn't it?' 1841. Mary Ann Evans is of marriageable age. Her father has recently moved with her to Bird Grove House, with the sole purpose of finding her a suitable husband. But Mary Ann's remarkable intellect and growing self-confidence are forming progressive new ideas in her mind; ideas that challenge her father's most strongly held beliefs. If she is to become the writer she has always dreamt of being, Mary Ann will have to break every societal convention expected of her. A funny and poignant exploration of family ties and self-determination, Alexi Kaye Campbell's play Bird Grove tells the untold story of the woman who was to become one of England's greatest writers: George Eliot. It premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2026, directed by Anna Ledwich.

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9781839045554

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Reviews

'This show is electric to watch and brought a tear to my eye... playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell is really on to something... Watching George Eliot become emancipated and reject her father shows how to pin down a genius' * Sunday Times * 'A rich and sympathetic portrait of a young woman finding her voice, and a heartfelt exploration of the difficulty and emotional cost of change... smart and funny... charged with emotion' * Financial Times * 'Quietly scorching... a gripping slow burn of a play that feels entirely modern' * London Theatre * 'A tender drama... searingly emotional... the play has a delicate emotional power' * Guardian * 'Touching... an enjoyable, sensitive and heartfelt play... Campbell's writing is careful and empathetic' * Time Out * 'Nicely crafted... elegantly written... has the sharp eye for social hierarchy of Eliot herself, as well as the high colour and melodramatic dash of Dickens... a period drama with a modern sensibility, witty and tinged with irony, but never stuffy' * The Stage * 'Brilliant... painful and gripping... The big confrontation is immense... the play's simplicities echo beautifully the spirit, restraint and honesty of George Eliot's own work' * TheatreCat * 'An engrossing and serious study of a young woman loved and wronged repeatedly; a victim of her age, her sex and her voracious curiosity' * The Spy in the Stalls * 'An empowering exploration of female independence, societal convention and the relationship between a father and daughter... A historical play with a modern message, Bird Grove is a successfully ambitious piece of new writing' * Theatre & Tonic *

Author Information

Alexi Kaye Campbell is a playwright and actor whose plays include The Pride (Royal Court, London, 2008; Lucille Lortel Theatre, New York, 2010; Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 2011; Trafalgar Studios, 2013); Apologia (Bush Theatre, London, 2009); The Faith Machine (Royal Court, London, 2011); Bracken Moor (Shared Experience at the Tricycle Theatre, London, 2013), Sunset at the Villa Thalia (National Theatre, 2016) and Bird Grove (Hampstead Theatre, 2026). The Pride received the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and the John Whiting Award for Best New Play. The production was also awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. His work for film includes Woman in Gold (BBC Films and Origin Pictures, 2015).

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