It is an auspicious day in 1850's London, England: daring duellist Imogen Flight is set to be knighted by Good Queen Vic. The patrons of the ladies-only Saucy Chicken pub celebrate by sharing tall tales of their heroine. When Imogen herself shows up, along with her trusty sidekick Volta, she comes with more stories of her own -- and someone on her trail. What follows is a feminist comedy for the ages, paying homage to the multitudes of incredible women who have been lost to history.
Keywords: women, sword-fighting, stage combat, Victorian, period, all-female cast, pirates, swashbuckling, feminist, cross-gender casting, doubling, fictional heroines
Produced by Fabulist Theatre at CBC Studio 700, Vancouver BC, 2020
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Historical
Acts: 2
Run time: 135 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Content notes: Contains casual British swearing (bloody, etc.), sexual innuendo, kidnapping, sword-fighting and stage combat (including killing/death), racial slurs (g*psy), racism, misogyny, gendered violence, mistreatment of children, racialized violence, references to domestic abuse, verbal abuse/coercion, pregnancy, labour pains, breastfeeding.
Cast size: 11 actors
Casting notes:
The 10 main roles should be played by women or femme-presenting non-binary/trans performers who are comfortable portraying women. Their ages range from 18 - 70 -- see information in the script for more specificity. There are approximately 50 smaller speaking roles to be distributed among the 10 main roles. Doubling information/suggestions are included in the appendices. The cast may be expanded for productions in educational institutions only.
Roles may be played by actors of any ethnicity. The role of Saifi should be portrayed by an actor of South Asian and/or Arab heritage.
The actor playing Barb must be able to play a guitar or similar instrument.
The role of Rhys may be played by any gender comfortable portraying masculinity, and may even be pre-recorded as the character never appears on stage.