Monologues, synopsis, writer quotes and credits

Published: 12 June 2018

Compliance, performed by Romola Garai (The Hour, Atonement)
Outside, performed by Corinne Skinner-Carter (EastEnders)
Bovril Pam, performed by Jodie Comer (My Mad Fat Diary, Dr Foster)
Multiples, performed by Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey, Happy Valley)
Pig Life, performed by Shirley Henderson (Bridget Jones, Harry Potter)
Pritilata, performed by Kiran Sonia Sawar (Black Mirror, Murdered By My Father)
Reclaim The Night, performed by Liv Hill (Three Girls and Bafta Best Supporting Actress nominee)
Tipping Point, performed by Antonia Thomas (Misfits, The Good Doctor, Lovesick)

Pictured L-R: Shirley Henderson, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Jodie Comer, Romola Garai, Antonia Thomas, Siobhan Finneran, Liv Hill, Corinne Skinner-Carter.

Compliance, by Abi Morgan

A hotel room meeting between a young actress and her powerful producer.

“Traversing female points of view and preoccupations over the last 100 years, the legacy of the casting couch has transcended every decade. In Compliance I wanted to capture the golden thread that ties generations of actresses finally raising their voices to defiantly declare #metoo.”

Abi Morgan is a Bafta and Emmy award-winning screenwriter and playwright, known for her work in television (Sex Traffic, The Hour) and film (The Iron Lady, Shame and Suffragette). Her BBC One series The Split, chronicling the fast-paced world of high powered female divorce lawyers, has been commissioned for a second series. Abi began her writing career in the theatre, writing a number of plays including Tiny Dynamite, Splendour for theatre company Paines Plough, and The Mistress Contract for the Royal Court.

Outside, by Theresa Ikoko

A woman celebrates her 100th birthday while outside the revolution is beginning.

“I wanted to explore people who don’t often go down in history, but are very much a part of making it. People who fight from the outside, even when the fight won’t benefit them. Who fight for others, even if no one would fight for them. The people who spend their lives on the outside... who don’t quite belong - whether for reasons of age, race, gender, sexuality, physical ability, or mental health, whatever.

"Writing Jaqui helped me to explore the resilience that is required to survive - to thrive - on the outside. And to still somehow muster up the energy to resist, to act, to shake a table. I wanted Jaqui to help celebrate that resilience, that pursuit of belonging and that activist spirit.”

Theresa Ikoko’s first full length play, Girls, toured in 2016 and 2017, co-produced by Soho theatre, Hightide and Talawa Theatre Company. Girls won the Alfred Fagon Award 2015 and was joint winner of the George Devine award 2016. It was shortlisted, with judges commendation, at the Verity Bargate Award 2015. Theresa is now developing a number of film, TV and theatre projects.

Bovril Pam, by Vicky Jones

In the early 1960s, stuck between Victorian England and the sexual revolution, a secretary in the typing pool finds herself.

“I wrote Bovril Pam after reading Naomi Wolf’s incredible book, Vagina. She inspired me to think about the way the female orgasm has been feared and controlled within the patriarchy. I like to think that, one way or another, regardless of the odds, women will always find their own way to their sexual selves.

"I started thinking about the early 60s, when society was experiencing a sexual awakening, and decided to write a positive story about a young woman, stifled by systems of control, who finds a way without permission, approved channels, or even men - to discover her own orgasm.”

Vicky Jones is co-founder and co-Artistic Director of DryWrite (with Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

Her writing credits include The One, for Soho Theatre, winner of the 2013 Verity Bargate Award (from over 800 entrants) and Touch for Soho Theatre. Vicky is currently the National Theatre's Playwright in Residence and is working on a number of film and TV projects for HBO, Killing Eve for BBC America /Sid Gentle and with Phoebe on Fleabag 2.

Pig Life, by EV Crowe

It’s 1991 and rape in marriage has been made illegal. Our character is shocked to realise what she has been living through.

“When I learned that rape in marriage was legal until 1991, I was shocked. It made me wonder in what other ways the law might still be letting women down. Pig Life is an artistic response to real women's testimonies about marital rape. I've tried to capture a feeling. The feeling is something like 'horror'. The world suddenly changes for the better, but it means you are forced to realise your version of normal married life is actually a crime scene."

E V Crowe wrote Kin, shortlisted for an Evening Standard Award, Hero (Olivier Award Winning Season in JTU) and The Sewing Group for the Royal Court. Her radio-play How to Say Goodbye Properly won the Imison Award. Her television work includes: Glue for E4 and Big Girl for Channel 4.

Reclaim The Night, by Charlene James

It's 1977, and the first Reclaim The Night march takes place in Leeds in response to the curfew imposed on women to protect them from the Yorkshire Ripper.

“Working on this project has made me realise the strength and resilience women have shown over many decades. I've been inspired by ladies who have paved the way for us to stand up and fight against the injustices women face today.”

Charlene James is writer of theatre and television. Her work includes the award-winning Cuttin' It (Young Vic, Royal Court, Birmingham Rep, Sheffield Theatre, The Yard) and the television adaptation of The Discovery Of Witches (Sky).

Pritilata, by Tanika Gupta

It’s 1932, and Pritilata leads an attack against the European Club in an attempt to gain independence from the British.

“I was delighted to be asked to write something for the Royal Court/BBC Snatches season, particularly as it gave me an opportunity to write about an unsung young heroine of mine from India. Pritilata Waddedar believed passionately in women being active in the revolutionary movement in 1930s India. She gave her life in the struggle for independence from British colonial rule at the tender age of 21.

"I took inspiration from letters she wrote to her mother and the British authorities in which she expressed her beliefs and passion for the cause of freedom. I hope that the monologue gives us a rare insight into the thoughts of an active young female Indian revolutionary. In Pritilata's words, ‘Women can fight for freedom too’."

Tanika Gupta MBE credits include Lions And Tigers for the Globe Theatre; adaptations of A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian for Hull Truck Theatre; Anita And Me for the Birmingham Rep; dramaturg on A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Globe; The Empress for the RSC; and Sugar Mummies for the Royal Court.

Tanika is currently co-writing a screenplay for BBC drama with Meera Syal.

Multiples, by Zinnie Harris

Accused of the murder of her three babies, a woman educates herself to prove the expert witness wrong.

“My choice was to write about a woman who wasn’t believed, because I fear it is a big part of women’s experience over the century. My piece is also about a woman who finds her voice and her confidence and ultimately a way to fight back. It’s a lovely parallel for the journey that started with the getting of the vote, and the journey that continues today. Personally this project has been a real joy to be involved in, to work with both the BBC and the Royal Court, quite apart from the other writers and brilliant directors to bring these stories to the screen.”

Zinnie Harris is a multi-award-winning playwright, theatre director and screen writer. She has written for the Royal Court, National Theatre, RSC, National Theatre of Scotland, BBC One and Channel 4 among others, and is currently adapting and directing Duchess of Malfi for the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh.

Tipping Point, by Rachel De-Lahay

In the not too distant future, a pregnant woman besieged by angry trolls and white supremacists contemplates what world her unborn child will enter.

“Keeping the vote to homeowners was a covert move to exclude certain 'ill equipped' sectors of society. So I set my piece in the future, as we are not celebrating 100 years of suffrage for all women, yet. And I began to imagine, by the time we are, what progress for these previously excluded women would look like.”

Rachel De-lahay has written The Westbridge and Routes for the Royal Court, Circles for Birmingham Rep and was co-writer of Kiri for Channel 4, as well as The Feed for Amazon Prime. She is currently writing an episode of The Eddy for Netflix with Jack Thorne to be directed by Damien Chazelle.

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