International Women’s Day with thought-provoking performances

Anvil Arts marks International Women’s Day (March 8) with three thought-provoking performances at The Haymarket, Basingstoke during March.

They provide opportunities to reflect upon the triumphs and challenges faced by women both through the centuries and the present day, beginning on Friday, March 17 with bestselling author Kate Mosse (see feature right). Juxtaposed against Kate’s delve into factual history, on Wednesday, March 1, SHE provides an evening of dramatised theatre reflecting on the role of women.

The evening is made up of seven short plays charting the experiences of different women from childhood to old age. Loosely inspired by The Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, SHE, written by Antony Clark, will challenge two versatile actors to play 14 characters in the telling of these stories which are visceral, poignant, laced with humour, and each with an intriguing twist. Will she stop the baby crying, exact revenge on the school bully, fall in love and be loved, protest to change the world, accept advice from her mother’s friends, come to terms with an unexpected illness, and grow old with dignity?

To complete the trilogy, on Sunday, March 12, attention is turned to Virginia Woolf’s novel A Room of One’s Own for inspiration.

Woolf’s celebrated pre-TED talk 1928 exploration of the impact of poverty and sexual inequality on intellectual freedom and creativity has been given a 21st-century take by the award-winning Dyad Productions with their one woman play of the same name.

A Room of One’s Own takes a wry, amusing, and incisive trip through the history of literature, feminism and gender. Meet Charlotte Brontë, Jane Austen and Shakespeare’s sister Judith and then travel to the far-flung future of … 2028.

Tickets at anvilarts.org.uk

If you feel spoilt for choice, then book to see all three for a discounted combined ticket price.