London premiere of a new play about a radical 19th Century fairy tale writer who accidentally summons a ghost.
Professional theatre company LynchPin presents the London premiere of a new play at the Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham. The Vegan Tigress by Claire Parker tells the story of a 19th Century fairy tale writer who accidentally summons a ghost. The spirit is the highly offended mother of the lover the writer spurned many years before. The opposing worlds of free spirits and tightly laced corsets collide in a hilarious play which explores memory, love and legacy and dares to ask where stories escape to when they’ve run their course.
The play is inspired by the life and works of Victorian author Mary De Morgan, a socialist and an activist, whose fairy tales subverted the genre. The production coincides with the 175th anniversary of De Morgan’s birth (on 24th February 1850). Mary wrote several volumes of fairy tales, tearing up the rule book on expected outcomes for boys, girls and happy ever afters. While they often critiqued the social and political norms of her day, her stories are strange, wonderful and eerie.
She grew up amongst artists and activists in a circle of free-thinking Pre-Raphaelites and was well acquainted with the families of William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Rudyard Kipling and the Rossettis and would frequently read her stories to their children.
This new light comedy is a reimagining of the moment Mary encounters a straight laced and formidable ghost from her past. The spirit forces her to re-evaluate her own story as she finds herself on the cusp of a life-changing journey. The play celebrates the art and act of storytelling, as Mary and the ghost spar while one of De Morgan’s tales is woven into the drama. The production playfully explores ideas of memory, legacy, love and loss, and how one will be remembered. Will there be a happy ending?
Claire Parker plays Mary De Morgan and Edie Campbell plays the ghost, Lady Tuttle, directed by Tracy Collier.
Listings
The Vegan Tigress: 18th February – 1st March 2025
The Bread & Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4 6DZ
Tickets: price £15: The Bread & Roses Theatre - Home
Further Information: LynchPin Theatre.