A dance-theatre performance at the Bloomsbury Festival 2023.
What is your image of a 19th century woman? A doctor? An engineer? A Prison inspector? A Lawyer? In Bloomsbury, women challenged patriarchy by daring to enter professions forbidden to them. They banged on locked doors. They refused to hide their ambitions. These nineteenth century radicals broke into education, medicine, law and many ‘men only’ spaces. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman! follows three brilliant minds who insisted that a woman can be a medic, a classicist and an accountant. They teach us that the generic for human is not ‘man’.
Pascal Theatre Company collaborated with students from London Contemporary Dance School, professional actors and students from St Lawrence University on this dance-theatre performance for the Bloomsbury Festival 2023.
Written and directed by Julia Pascal
Performed at the Royal National Hotel on 22 October 2023 drawing a wonderfully diverse audience.
The performances were followed by Q & A sessions. This event forms part of Pascal Theatre Company’s Lottery Heritage Funded Project Women for Women: 19th century women in Bloomsbury
Audience feedback:
Brilliant, shocking, moving, enlightening, hilarious …history which we should all know about ….stunning choreography – extraordinary! …brought alive a kicking searing historical episode which I found fascinating and very moving.
Astonishingly pithy, punchy writing.
Excellent passionate and informative.
I thought it was a superbly crafted piece of theatre. It was very clear what the message was, but never felt overly preachy or hyperbolic. It just felt honest, serious and important. Brilliant cast and beautifully, simply presented. Bravo.
This performance is an educational and fun performance for anyone to enjoy.
The performance was impressive and very educational, it should be done more often. Important work to be seen by a wider audience.
An inspiring and joyous production and what was as thought-provoking was the feedback from the theatre team afterwards.