Pilot Theatre usually offer their audience plays with a contemporary cutting edge, but this time for Mary and the Hyenas they’re gone back in time to tell the story of a pioneering feminist from the 18th century.
Born in Beverley near Hull, Mary Wollstonecraft worked as a schoolteacher, a governess and as a translator for a London publisher before publishing her first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, in 1787. This was followed by the still influential her later work on the place of women in society published as A Vindication of the Rights of Woman five years later, which at its core is a plea for equality in the education of men and women. The Vindication is widely regarded as the founding document of modern feminism.
Written by Maureen Lennon for this production Pilot has teamed up with Hull Truck Theatre for Mary and the Hyenas which will have its world premiere only nine miles from where Wollstonecraft was born. In a real coup they have recruited electronica star Billy Nomates – aka Tor Maries – to pen the songs for a production Pilot says is a play with music.
Our Features Editor Paul Clarke caught up with Pilot’s Artistic Director Esther Richardson to talk about why they chose this story, how they managed to bring Tor onboard and what makes Mary’s life relevant to a modern audience.
So, tell me about Mary?
Mary Wollstonecraft should really be a household name; she is widely regarded as the first feminist. Obviously people were working on women’s rights long before she was, in different parts of the world as well, but let’s put it like this in the West she is a really key figure during the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, where you have people questioning the divine right of kings for the first time, and the role of the church. We’re moving into an age of rationalism in science and the arts, and she was a figure who emerged who shouted up about inequities in respect of sex and gender to challenge the status quo. And she’s also famously the mother of Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein.
So why haven’t more people heard about this pioneering woman?
Certainly a school kid should know about this historical figure, and she’s not always covered. So often people say, oh, I wish I’d known about this woman. She had the most extraordinary life at the most extraordinary time. She goes to London with her family, she meets some of the most important thinkers of the age, including people like Thomas Paine and in her circle are artists like Henry Fuseli, who was a major artist,and William Godwin, who she later married. At the time she lived she was pretty famous, not for the positivity of her work, but she was called this hyena in petticoats because she was daring to challenge things, and a lot of people didn’t like it.
We live in a world where in Afghanistan women can’t even leave the house, and right wing populists are pushing back hard on women’s rights, so what does Mary have to say to today’s young women and girls?
I think she has a lot to say actually, and let’s call it what it is, this fight is still ongoing, and it’s a fight that affects all women. Even in the UK, which is still something like sixth or seventh wealthiest country in the world, but if you look at its measure on gender, it’s pretty poor, it’s something like in the 20s somewhere. So relative to the wealth of our nation, we could have a much stronger rating on gender equity.
How do you put Mary’s life and work onstage in a way a modern audience can relate to?
The other thing that’s important is the show is called Mary and the Hyenas, so as well as Mary Wollstonecraft onstage you have in a sense this group of every women who begin the play in 2024. There is a context onstage where we have this wonderful group of storytellers who are connected to now so that helps you trace those connections with the present.
It’s something of a coup to have the show’s songs composed by Billy Nomates who has released two critically acclaimed albums of electronic music with a strong message.
It’s got some amazing music in it by Tor Maines, otherwise known as Billy Nomates. The songs are absolute bangers, and they are going to be released on an album, which is really quite an unique approach for us, and something that we’ve not really done before. I think in the room there’s a huge emphasis on singing, I think we’re just nervous about calling it a musical because it’s still a very actor led, drama led show. So if you like music, I think you’ll really like the show.
And Tor herself had a tough time last year thanks to online trolls.
She went to Glastonbury where she suddenly got all this abuse for being a woman out there on her own. At that point I thought maybe she’ll withdraw because I was worried about her. In a bizarre way it kind of highlighted how absolutely perfect she was for the project, because there was a kindred thing to do with how Mary Wollstonecraft herself would be treated – even though it was 250 years ago. You see that’s the perfect example of how we haven’t quite got total equity as women, so there’s a woman in the music industry who is doing her thing her way, and then a load of men online think it’s totally fine to tell her to shut up. Actually, if they’re honest they probably wouldn’t do that to a bloke, so there’s the perfect example right there that women are treated differently, and it’s not right that they are. So, her kind of fightback around that was inspiring.
Mary and the Hyenas will have its world premiere at Hull Truck Theatre from 7th February until 1st March, then transfer to London’s Wilton’s Musical Hall from 18th until 29th March.