Rosie Wilby – Nineties Woman

Nineties Woman is a new show from award winning comedian Rosie Wilby using live interactive storytelling interspersed with video interviews, music and photo archive to trace a journey through early 90s feminism, refracted through a very personal lens.

Rosie studied at York University in the early 90’s against a backdrop of John Major and riotgrrrl.  She discovered the University feminist newspaper ‘Matrix’ (Greek for ‘womb’) and decided to join the collective. And, yet, as a geeky Electronics undergrad with an unfortunate perm and coming to terms with her sexuality, she didn’t quite fit in with the academic political lesbians with their History, Politics and English degrees. She was involved with a legendary guerrilla midnight mission to daub a wall with a green and purple painted ‘Sisterhood is Powerful’ slogan just for the cover of Issue 3 but never quite managed to catch the eye of the inspiring ‘Kate’ who always seemed to be at the centre of things. In fact when Kate staged a mock wedding outside York Minster to her girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 1991, Rosie found herself on the sidelines yet still excited to be part of something radical – I mean, gay people would never be allowed to get married, would they?

In 2013 she discovered long treasured 20 year old dusty copies of Matrix in her parents’ attic and decided to set about tracing some of the women she’d not quite connected with at the time (including fellow comedian Zoe Lyons, who had also been very fleetingly involved) to see what they were doing now and how their perceptions of feminism had shifted.

Nineties Woman was commissioned by Shout Festival Birmingham for a premiere at MAC in March 2013 before it appeared at Outburst Festival Belfast and Camden People’s Theatre Calm Down Dear Festival (alongside Bridget Christie and Sara Pascoe) and was supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

Nominated for Best Theatre – Planet London Awards 2013

‘With plenty of laughs and charm, this a joy of a play, and the most fun you can have in a pair of dungarees and Doc Martens’ ????
WHAT’S PEEN SEEN

‘..one of the smartest, funniest comedians on the scene at the moment’
FEMINIST TIMES

‘riotously funny… a personal tale of reminiscence of student life, unrequited love and  the re-discovery of old friends, as well as being a fascinating insight into the history and progress of feminism and political ideas in this country’
LOUDER THAN WAR

‘an intelligent, honest and entertaining show that poses important questions, not just about feminism but also about growing up and finding oneself’ ????
REMOTE GOAT

‘side-splitting show that is both timeless and timely’ ?????
DIVA

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX BLACK BOX

WEBSITE: ROSIEWILBY.COM