The Evergreen Players are kicking off their 2021-2022 show season with a play that celebrates women’s education, not just in the world but also at Loyola. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale tells the empowering story of the fight for women’s higher education in 1896 Cambridge, England.
This show focuses on four Students at Girton College, the women’s college that fell under Cambridge, and their fight for the right to graduate. The audience gets to see the women’s determination to be seen as equals to their male counterparts. These women strive to prove that education should not be limited by gender but rather open to all those who long to learn. These women intended to match their male counterparts’ grade for grade, with fewer resources and less support. We see during this show that there were very few professors that supported women’s education or even had the confidence to go in and provide lectures. Many professors and even male students were publicly against this education. They made it harder for them to learn, whether by barring them from lectures or trying to impose the idea that women were meant to marry and be mothers rather than scientists. Yet, despite this struggle, these women proved that they had the drive and the passion to learn anything that was thrown at them. This show shares a message like no other that no matter what anyone says about your education, the knowledge you earned can never be taken away from you.
This show is being brought to life by guest director Erin Bone Steele, who is a company member at the Chesapeake Shakespeare company. She is working tirelessly with the actors to do this story justice and spread its message to the Loyola Community.
You may be asking why is it so important now? Today, in the world, we are seeing a fight for women’s education across the world. This fight is essential, but we should also not forget our history. Loyola Maryland was founded as an all-male college in 1852. Many colleges at the time were single-gender, but as time went on, many colleges became Co-ed, even Harvard in 1946, yet Loyola Maryland did not become Co-ed until 1971. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this change, and there is no better time to do this play than now. The opportunity that female students have here at Loyola is what the Girton Girls fought for. Their battle may not have directly influenced our lives; however, they were trailblazers and their story deserves to be heard by all.
Blue Stockings opens on October 28th and runs through to October 31st; tickets can be purchased later through the box office. More information will be released soon regarding showtimes. So, mark your calendars for Blue Stockings and see this amazing and empowering story come to life here at Loyola.