Across
the Square
About the play
Experience the magic of Across the Square, a captivating theatre show that brings two historical figures to life on stage. Dive into a unique encounter that blends history and entertainment, promising an unforgettable experience for all theatre enthusiasts.
As with many a good adventure, Across the Square came to be because of a chance encounter. With a shared interest in both the Bloomsbury Group and the campaign for women’s suffrage, Alex and Non met and an idea was born as they sipped a glass of ginger ale.
Across the Square is an imagined encounter between two fearless and colourful characters Lady Ottoline Morrell and Millicent Fawcett.
Having had a successful premiere to highly appreciative audiences at the Bloomsbury Festival 2024, it seemed only right to take the story of Ottoline and Millicent further afield.
We invite you to join us for an unforgettable encounter with two irrepressible women.
December 1917
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Prime Minister David Lloyd-George has been in office a little over a year.
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George V has been on the throne for seven years.
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Tsar Nicholas II has abdicated and Russia is still in revolution.
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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson dies on 17th December. She was Britain’s first woman doctor and sister to Millicent Fawcett.
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Buster Keaton has just made his film debut in The Butcher Boy.
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Marie Lloyd, Vesta Tilley and Little Titch are the stars of the music hall.
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It’s bitterly cold and there will be a white Christmas.
Lady Ottoline Morrell
Lady Ottoline Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. She was an influential patron to the Bloomsbury Group, a loose collection of artists and intellectuals who were at the forefront of cultural life in the early 20th century. Members of the Group included Virginia Woolf, DH Lawrence, Augustus John, Vanessa Bell as well as the economist John Maynard Keynes. Her colourful private life included a long relationship with the philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell.
Millicent Fawcett
Millicent Garrett Fawcett (11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was a suffragist and writer. As leader of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, Millient campaigned for women’s suffrage for over sixty years. In contrast to the campaign by the suffragettes led by Emmeline Pankhurst, Millicent believed that women should attain the vote by peaceful law abiding means.
She was awarded a DBE in 1925 for her work and is the first woman to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square.