History is written by the victors. How does a historian in the modern day recount the story of a young, working class woman living in Cambridge through the limited evidence that we have available to us today?
Go Quietly is a love letter and tribute to the thousands of forgotten townie women and girls detained at Cambridge University’s private prison for women, The Spinning House. Through a historian’s eyes, we tell the story of Emily Kemp, a young dressmaker, arrested and detained in 1860, and courageous enough to take on the University Vice Chancellor in a court of law.
THE WRITERS
Ana Sanderson and Ariella Gordon are looking forward to bringing the story of Emily Kemp to the Festival Theatre. In 1860, when Emily was living close by in Dover street, it was known as the Theatre Royal, Barnwell. We don’t know if Emily ever saw a production there, and we very much doubt that, as a working class woman, she would have imagined her story being told there. 166 years on, this writing team believes that her story is important and we feel honoured to have this unique opportunity to share it in a place she would have known.
