Blue Stockings
Notes for those wishing to audition
Auditions will be held from 7:30 pm to 10 pm at Mayer Hall in Bebington CH63 7PL on Sun the 30th of November and Wed the 3rd of December. All parts will be open to all those attending auditions, none have been precast.
Rehearsals for those cast will begin on March 10, 2026, and every subsequent Tue and Thurs evening in Mayer Hall until the 28th of May. Rehearsals will then move to the Gladstone Theatre Port Sunlight on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of June. On June 7th, 8th and 9th will subsequently be the ‘Get-in’, Tech and Final Dress. Performances will follow in the theatre on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of June.
Actors are expected to attend all rehearsals unless their temporary absence has been agreed beforehand with the director. Those not already members of Bebington Dramatic Society (BDS) will be expected to join if offered a part in the play. The annual subscription fee is only £15 and in addition to normal membership benefits, this also provides the necessary insurance cover for all of our members throughout the production and performance process.
Benefits of being part of (a well-run) amateur dramatic society like BDS are as follows:
- whilst there are many benefits to studying drama at school, college, or university there is no learning experience better than live performance on stage in a full production in front of substantial, paying audiences.
- You can practice play production including set and scene development, line learning, movement, character development and voice projection in a full theatre with all the preparation and teamwork leading up to the live performance with support from the director and other more experienced cast members.
- In amateur theatre – as in small professional fringe theatre – everyone does a bit of everything and picks up a wide range of skills in the process.
Our casts are usually a mixture of very experienced and skilled actors – some with a background in professional training – and others for whom this was to be their first or one of a very few performances and they are relatively new to the stage. Actors will be supported by each other and by the directors and backstage team and BDS is well known on Wirral stages for its friendship, teamwork and quality productions.
Notes on the script and characters follow. Closer to the audition dates, further notes will be circulated with audition pieces for all the main characters. This production has 23 characters with lines but there will be quite a few of the smaller characters ‘doubled’ leaving perhaps 12 -15 actors filling all the roles. Roles will be matched to previous experience and character ‘fit’.
Script Briefing
200-word summary of Jessica Swale’s Blue Stockings: (published by Nick Hern Books)
Set in 1896 at Cambridge University’s Girton College, Blue Stockings follows four young women—Tess Moffatt, Carolyn Addison, Celia Willbond, and Maeve Sullivan—as they begin their first term studying science. Though permitted to attend lectures and sit exams, women are denied the right to graduate. The play charts the women’s academic and personal struggles, as they face societal prejudice, the hostility of male peers, and the limitations of Victorian gender roles.
Tess, the central figure, wrestles with her intellectual ambitions, her feelings for fellow student Ralph Mayhew, and the pressure to conform to expectations of marriage. The group’s camaraderie is tested by class differences, personal tragedies, and the growing political activism of the suffrage movement.
Faculty members, including the principled Miss Blake and the cautious Principal Elizabeth Welsh, attempt to balance progress with the need to protect Girton’s precarious position. The men’s colleges debate whether women should be awarded degrees, leading to a climactic vote in which the motion is defeated.
Though the result is disheartening, the women’s determination endures. The play ends with Tess and her friends resolved to continue their fight, knowing they are paving the way for future generations of women scholars.
100-word thematic summary of Blue Stockings:
Blue Stockings explores women’s struggle for education and recognition in late-19th-century Cambridge, highlighting the barriers posed by gender and societal expectation. Class differences shape opportunities, with scholarship students facing additional pressures. Friendship and solidarity among the Girton girls provide resilience against prejudice and personal hardship. The play celebrates early feminist activism, showing how persistence and collective action challenge institutional norms. Despite setbacks—such as exclusion from formal degrees—the women’s determination underscores the sacrifices required to advance social change. Ultimately, the play emphasizes courage, intellect, and solidarity as essential forces in the fight for equality and opportunity.
Summary Table
| Role – (lines) | Description | |
| Tess Moffatt – (425) | Lead, curious, academic | |
| Carolyn Addison – (165) | Bohemian, affluent, free-spirited | |
| Celia Willbond – (141) | Hard-working, fragile but determined | |
| Maeve Sullivan – (83) | Scholarship student, working-class | |
| Ralph (139),
Lloyd (130), Holmes (80), Edwards (85), Will (194) |
Male undergrads with varied stances | |
| Elizabeth Welsh – (199) | College principal | |
| Miss Blake – (160) | Lecturer and covert supporter | |
| Mr Banks – (187) | Lecturer at Girton/Trinity | |
| Dr Maudsley – (73) | ‘Scientific’ Psychiatrist – Antagonist | |
| Prof Anderson (26),
Prof Radleigh (42), Prof Collins (41) |
Examination board professors | |
| Minnie (19), Miss Bott (24), Mr Peck (5), Mrs Lindley (9), Librarian (4), Café Lady (4). Waiter (3). | Supporting staff, cafe loca | |