A Woman's Life

Cheltenham 1881: In the kitchen of the von Holst household, Clara is wracking her brains to think what to cook for supper. Her two little boys, Gustav and Emil, are in bed, husband Adolph is visiting a Montpellier hostelry after a concert, and the new maid has taken to her room. Like so many Victorian housewives, Clara turns to Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management for advice. But Clara is a talented musician and her mind wanders from stockpots to a time when she still had dreams of her own. Then into her kitchen, bustles Mrs Beeton herself, the mob-capped matron of our imagination and Clara’s stern taskmaster. But is Bella Beeton all that she seems? As Adolph’s pupils ‘murder’ Mendelssohn offstage, a tragedy is to test Clara and bring the two women closer.

​In A Woman’s Life, by BAFTA-nominated playwright, Carolyn S. Jones, directed by Marianne Gaston and featuring Emma Wilkes and Emmeline Braefield, long buried secrets now come to light

Part of the 7th Stroud Theatre Festival…