Blue Stockings

Blue Stockings is the first full-length play by Jessica Swale. It is set at Girton College, Cambridge in 1896. Its title refers to bluestockings, a derogatory term for female intellectuals. The action involves four very talented female undergraduates and the campaign to be allowed like their male colleagues to receive a formal degree qualification at the end of their studies. The play touches on some of the issues surrounding the feminist ideals of the late nineteenth-century New Woman including female bicycle-riding, equal education rights, sexual autonomy, and political enfranchisement. The play was developed during 2012 at the National Theatre Studio and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Its first full production ran at Shakespeare's Globe from 24 August to 11 October 2013. The printed play includes a dedication to female education activist and Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai. Characters