Scary Little Girls

Labia Lessons with This is a Vulva
2022-07-23 13:00 - 15:30 (Europe/London) | The Poly, 24 Church St, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3EG, United Kingdom
Get the sex education you never got at school and learn everything you need to know about the vulva in this shame-free and fun workshop brought to you by This Is A Vulva.
We’ll cover things like why language is so important, what everything actually does, why capitalism could be damaging your vagina and how to look after your genitals properly. Not to mention a period pub quiz and the chance to make your own vulva. There’ll be laughs, a few rude words and plenty of honesty.
Open to all. No need to have a vulva to join in and all ages welcome.
Book your tickets here.
This event is a part of our Mayven Festival.

Salon du Cinema - Mae West
2022-07-22 19:30 - 21:00 | Old Bakery Studios, Blewett's Wharf, Malpas Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1QH, United Kingdom
Celebrate the stars of a golden age of cinema with Scary Little Girls’ Salon du Cinema, an intimate evening treating audiences to flirtatious cocktails, scene-setting live music and risqué tales of the secret and scandalous…
Together we will explore how female film stars pushed the boundaries both pre- and post-censorship, combining screenings of classic cinema with the sort of shenanigans you can only get away with in a salon, with a screening of Mae West’s 1933 comedy classic She Done Him Wrong.
This event is part of Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.
Explore all films and events here.
Grab your tickets here.
This event is a part of our Mayven Festival.

Deeds with Words and Ada Campe: Too Little, Too Soon (double bill)
2022-07-21 18:30 - 21:30 | The Drapery, United Kingdom
Join us for an evening with researcher, broadcaster and performer, Naomi Paxton, MC of Museums Showoff and Stand Up at the V&A, and an occasional presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme.
6.30pm: A rare glimpse into some political, feminist theatre from over a century ago, with some script in hand play readings with Naomi and our rep company. In 1908 the Actresses’ Franchise League and Women Writers’ Suffrage League were founded, bringing together theatre professionals who wanted to support the Votes for Women movement through their work. They commissioned, produced and performed suffrage theatre and entertainments across the UK, seizing the opportunity to make new work that responded to the many issues and ideas at the heart of the suffrage campaign.
7.30pm – 8.30pm: Join us in The Drapery’s garden and bar, where there will be wonderful vegan Middle Eastern snacks for sale!
8.30pm: Ada Campe: Too Little, Too Soon. Variety artiste Ada Campe decided to do some research into her family history during lockdown – and was delighted and intrigued by what she found! Join her for a show about wonderful women, surprising secrets, and amphibian water ballets.
‘Very funny’ Guardian
‘Fabulous’ ScotsGay
‘Genius’ Sandi Toksvig
‘Extravagantly mischievous’ Chortle
‘A marvellous teller of tall tales’ Scotsman
‘Resembles an unhinged super-villain’ DIVA
Winner 2019 Good Egg Award, Stand Comedy Club
Winner 2018 Hackney Empire New Act of the Year Show (NATYS)
Winner 2018 Leicester Square Theatre Old Comedian of the Year
Grab your tickets here.
This event is a part of our Mayven Festival

Mayven Exhibition
2022-07-21 - 2022-07-24 | Fish Factory Art Space, The Sail Loft (Ground Floor), Commercial Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 8AG, United Kingdom
Join us to celebrate 20 years of Scary Little Girls and to be introduced to the Mayven in our multidisciplinary exhibition at Fish Factory.
Encompassing prints, illustrations, textiles, photographs and 3D artwork created by artists who’ve collaborated with Scary Little Girls throughout the past 20 years and artists based in Cornwall, all of the artists draw inspiration from wise, creative and uninhibited women.
Artists in the exhibition include:
Lyn Barlow
Anne Brierley
Alice Cooke
Jacky Fleming
Kayleigh Hilsdon
Fijke Middendorp
Henrietta Paine
Jill Raymond
LH Trevail
Caroline Wilkins
The exhibition runs from Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th July, and Fish Factory is open from 10am – 5pm each day.
On Saturday 23rd, from 10am – 12noon, we will host a lino printing workshop with Caroline Wilkins in the gallery. Booking is essential for this workshop as space is limited.
Email Sharon to book a place.
Image credit: One Moonlit Night by Fijke Middendorp.

The Madcap Mayven Cabaret!
2022-07-20 19:30 - 21:00 | Penlee Park Theatre, Morrab Road, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 4HE
Yes, it’s Scary Little Girls’ 20th birthday! No, we can’t believe it either!
But by the goddess we are going celebrate the heck out of it!
Join compére Rebecca Mordan – or Bunny Morethan to those who know her from the Glastonbury Festival Big Top – for an evening of music, stories, comedy, special guests and surprises from the finest fems from the Cornish arts scene. Other Artists who will perform include Dr Naomi Paxton, Elaine Miller and Alice Robinson – more to be confirmed!
Expect gin cocktails, birthday treats, party games and the anarchic joie de vivre that SLG have been known and loved for these past 20 years…
We cannot wait to see SLG back in the park following their last visit with the hilarious The Full Bronte.
Tickets and venue info here.

This event will also be livestreamed at 7.30pm on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube!

Scratch Night
2022-07-19 19:30 - 21:30 | The Old Library, 10 Lower Bore Street, Bodmin, PL31 2JX
Join us and our friends for a Scratch night on July 19th this year at The Old Library.
We’ll be testing out new material – anything from a couple of scenes to the beginnings of idea. YOUR responses will inform what goes ahead, and in what shape. Be part of the creative process and see things no-one has seen before and may never see in that form again!
We’re still pulling together the details and performers, so save the date and watch this space!
Keep up to date via our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Sunday Lunch by Marie Macneil
2022-07-19 10:00 - 17:30 | The Old Library, 10 Lower Bore Street, Bodmin, PL31 2JX
As part of the Mayven Festival, Scary Little Girls are honoured to be supporting the work being developed by 3 remarkable female writers and directors.
In this stage of the festival each script will get a day of R&D each with actors and musicians from SLG’s Radical Rep hosted by different communities across Cornwall.
These are invite only events. We hope to continue developing these works in more detail and to present them publicly in the second part of our Mayven festivities later in the year.
SUNDAY LUNCH is a snap-shot, a moment in time, between mother and daughters as they wrestle with their adult relationships, expectations of each other and life after loss. Warm, witty, wise and wild, this short play shines a light on the reality of women sharing space, and struggling with family dynamics in Cornwall today.
This play is the only part of the Summer Mayven Festival that can’t be seen by the public; we’d love to you come and give us your feedback on it at our Scratch Night produced with Hall for Cornwall and Into Bodmin in the evening of the 19th July.

Salon du Cinema - Marilyn Monroe
2022-07-18 19:30 - 21:00 | St Agnes Library, 2 Trelawney Road, St Agnes, TR5 0TP, United Kingdom
Celebrate the stars of a golden age of cinema with Scary Little Girls’ Salon du Cinema, an intimate evening treating audiences to flirtatious cocktails, scene-setting live music and risqué tales of the secret and scandalous…
Together we will explore how female film stars pushed the boundaries both pre- and post-censorship, combining screenings of classic cinema with the sort of shenanigans you can only get away with in a salon, with a screening of Marilyn Monroe’s career-changing Bus Stop.
This event is part of Film Feels Curious, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.
Explore all films and events here.
Grab your tickets here.
This event is a part of our Mayven Festival.

Joan Must Burn by Laura Wright
2022-07-18 10:00 - 17:30 | St Agnes Parish Council Meeting Rooms
As part of the Mayven Festival, Scary Little Girls are honoured to be supporting the work being developed by 3 remarkable female writers and directors.
In this stage of the festival each script will get a day of R&D each with actors and musicians from SLG’s Radical Rep hosted by a different communities across Cornwall.
This is an invite only event. We hope to continue developing these works in more detail and to present them publicly in the 2nd part of our Mayven festivities later in the year.
Joan Must Burn is an unfaithful adaptation of Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI.
This play ends in flame. In 1431, Joan of Arc, the nineteen-year-old Maid of Orléans, is burned alive at the stake while screaming that she is pregnant. The excuse is not enough. Joan must burn.
JOAN MUST BURN fuses extracts from Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI, which stages the execution of Joan of Arc, with both historical accounts of Joan’s life and present-day medical and social commentary on anxiety and burnout amongst young women.
This collage of stories reframes Joan not as an idealized saint but as an exhausted teenager, barely able to withstand both the pressures of war and the growing doubt that her divine ‘visions’ are hallucinations sent by the devil, giving voice to a young woman whose fears and flaws have been concealed by centuries of propaganda and myth-making.

Blue Moon by Fiona Graham
2022-07-17 10:00 - 17:30 | Cornwall
As part of the Mayven Festival, Scary Little Girls are honoured to be supporting the work being developed by 3 remarkable female writers and directors.
In this stage of the festival each script will get a day of R&D each with actors and musicians from SLG’s Radical Rep hosted by a different communities across Cornwall.
This is an invite only event. We hope to continue developing these works in more detail and to present them publicly in the second part of our Mayven festivities later in the year.
BLUE MOON is a story about what happens when the sea meets the land, responding to climate change, the politics of living on an island and female inter-generational relationships. The play is set at the island end of Porthmeor beach and has been inspired by Paula Rego’s painting THE DANCE.

In Conversation: Rebecca Mordan and Jane Claire discuss 20 years of Scary Little Girls
2022-07-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Hall for Cornwall
Come along for the launch of our Mayven Festival!
Join founder and Artistic Director of Scary Little Girls Rebecca Mordan and some her favourite associate artists for an evening of chats, tall tales and music in the stunning refurbished Hall for Cornwall Playhouse Bar.
Kicking off with an ‘In Conversation’ hosted by Jane Claire OBE, you’ll hear behind the scenes accounts of some of the company’s exploits over the last 20 years, and have a chance to ask Rebecca, well whatever you want! The evening will then go cabaret style as Rebecca invites you to chose songs and stories from the Uke Juke box and enjoy performances from musicians, comedians and storytellers with your glass in hand.
The cabaret will feature a special guest performance from folk music’s brightest rising Star Flo Perlin. Flo has been aired and interviewed a number of times on Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing, as well as on BBC Radio London, Folk Radio UK and BBC Radio Shropshire. Following her recent release, Flo performed a live set at the BBC Radio 2 studio, which included a special interview with Mark Radcliffe. She has supported artists such as Peggy Seeger, Rachel Newton and Sam Lee.
This event is the official launch for the Summer Mayven Festival, a week of multi-disciplinary feminist arts from local and national artists celebrating the 20th birthday of Scary Little Girls.
Book your tickets here.

SLG at The Great Estate Festival!
2022-06-04 | Scorrier House, The Great Estate, Scorrier House, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 5AW, United Kingdom
We are so excited to announce that we will be part of a Queens of Literature event at The Great Estate Festival, in Redruth Cornwall!
A truly immersive experience, the Living Literature Walks will take you on a physical walk through history around the grounds of Scorrier Estate. A perfect experience for the whole family to enjoy, no need to book, just join in on the day.
This treasure hunt will take you on an exciting journey around the Scorrier Estate to discover Queens of Literature.
With clues to guide you around the route, discover performative treasures and nuggets of information as you explore.
There is a reward for anyone who finds all the treasure!
As well as already loved plays, music and poetry, we will also shed light on some little-known local gems!
Book your festival tickets here!

Hall for Cornwall Living Literature Walks - May 14th
2022-05-14 | Hall for Cornwall
Inspired by the stunning refurbishment of the historic Hall for Cornwall building, we will bring their new space alive with performance, song and comedy!
These Walks will take you on a specially prepared journey around the theatre, bringing you into the path of some of your favourite Cornish artists performing vignettes inspired by Daphne du Maurier, Lady Killigrew and Dolly Pentreath.
Join us for this intimate, enchanting and unexpected performative treasure hunt and see, hear and experience Cornwall Playhouse as never before!
Dates: 6th, 7th, 13th & 14th May 2022, multiple times each day
Tickets here
Please Note: Pre booking is strongly advised as places for each Walk are strictly limited.

Hall for Cornwall Living Literature Walks - May 13th
2022-05-13 | Hall for Cornwall

Hall for Cornwall Living Literature Walks - May 7th
2022-05-07 | Hall for Cornwall

Hall for Cornwall Living Literature Walks - May 6th
2022-05-06 | Hall for Cornwall

Reclaiming Greenham (Edinburgh)
2022-02-27 10:00 - 11:30 | St John’s Church, 1a Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2AB
*Please note this is a women only event*
As part of the Audacious Women festival in Edinburgh, Scary Little Girls and Greenham Women Everywhere are leading a workshop titled ‘Reclaiming Greenham’. Here’s what the festival has to say about this exciting event:
“Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp is unknown to many activists today. Greenham Women Everywhere is now putting this radical herstory back on the agenda.
Ray and Vanessa will recall early actions to pull down the 9 mile fence, life at camp and how it took 16 years to reclaim the common. The talk will include video, newspaper clips, photos and songs and how women recreated the original walk from Cardiff to Greenham to mark the 40th anniversary, with two days of celebrations on the common which is now a beautiful wildlife space enjoyed by all. And a thank you from the current Mayor of Newbury!”
More info & booking

Salon de la Vie Season 5 - Rosa Parks
2022-01-05 19:30 - 20:00 | Cornwall
Join us the 5th January 2022, rescheduled from December 2021, for our celebration of Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and an advocate for non-violent direct action (NVDA).
Despite her popular image as a polite but firm woman who decided one day to take a principled stance against racial segregation, Parks was of course a radical activist spearheading strategically organised campaigns for justice as part of the NAACP. In her own words: “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true… No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in…. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became.”
We’ll be joined by two special guests, actress Kelsey Gordon; and actor and BSL presenter Donna Mullings. We’ll discuss the different perceptions of Rosa Parks as an example of how radical political actions are so often removed from their wider, more powerful context.
Did you know?
★ As a member of the NAACP, Parks was an investigator assigned to cases of sexual assault. In 1945, she was sent to Abbeville, Alabama, to investigate the gang rape of Recy Taylor. The protest that arose around the Taylor case was the first instance of a nationwide civil rights protest, and it laid the groundwork for the Montgomery bus boycott.
★ Parks was Youth Leader for the NAACP and received thousands of letters from children across the US: a selection of these and her replies are collated in ‘Dear Mrs Parks: A dialogue with today’s youth’, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children’s Literary Achievement
★ There is a ‘Gare Rosa Parks’ railway station in Paris, named as part of the city Mayor’s drive to honour inspirational women in public places
Book your tickets here
Link will be sent to all ticketholders 30 mins before event starts
About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others.
And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.

Salon de la Vie Season 5 - Live Stream Christmas Special Finale
2021-12-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Cornwall
Exploding into Christmas on a feminist elf-driven magic flying cracker, it’s the Salon de la Vie Season 5 Finale Live Stream Christmas Special – ka-boom!
What do you love most about Christmas? Fantastic – us too! And we’re dishing it out like Saint Nick and his flying reindeers. Join us for a festive cabaret in celebration of everything that makes Christmas such great fun, with comedy, music, stories, quizzes – and audience participation, but from the safety of your own home.
Coming to you live from the kitchen of Salon de la Vie’s secret lockdown garden, Scary Little Girls Rebecca and Shazz will be joined by stand-up comedian, current UK Pun Champion, and Shazz’s childhood friend – the delightful Colin Leggo! Alongside the live mayhem, we’re prepping some special recordings of songs and sketches from our favourite artists – especially for you.
Here’s what we’ve got stuffed in our stockings for you lovely lot:
-Play the ukebox! Choose which festive tunes Rebecca should play on her ukulele
-Beat the punster! Send us your best puns for Colin to judgeInteractive spooky storytelling!
-Vote for the ending as Shazz reads a gothic Cornish tale by SLG associate artist and fan favourite, LH TrevailCatchphrase-style quiz! Say what you see as you play along at home
-Control our heads! Powered by you the audience, our unique moving, light-up hat with antlers is back in action
-Introducing the band! Meet the new SLG in-house band, Pretty Little Beasts
Plus a sneak preview of what’s coming up for SLG in 2022 – as we’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary year!
Book your tickets now
Tickets are £5 for this Salon, to help cover the people involved, the hours of prep, development and rehearsal time, the costumes, tech and props – and to allow us to keep giving you the innovation, art and love you deserve.
Link will be sent to all ticketholders 30 mins before event starts
About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 20-30 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others. And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.

Salon de la Vie Season 5 - Frida Kahlo
2021-11-17 19:30 - 20:30 | Cornwall
Join us on November 17th for our celebration of Frida Kahlo, the inimitable painter beloved for her unique self-portraits expressing extremes of pain and passion in bold, vibrant colours.
Frida achieved a certain amount of fame and recognition in her lifetime, but she was often overshadowed by the men with whom she was associated. Her cult international status has since spread well beyond Mexico and feminist circles to a mainstream appreciation that belies the enduringly transgressive nature of her life and art.
We’ll be joined by special guest, actor Kiruna Stamell who will explore the role of the artist as activist (and vice versa) and talk about Kahlo’s relationship to disability, which was detailed so vividly in her work and yet does not define her legacy in the same way as other famous figures. Kiruna will also be reading from Barbara Kingsolver’s remarkable novel ‘The Lacuna’, in which Frida Kahlo features as a key character fighting for her public identity: “If I don’t choose, they choose for me . . . The newspapers would wrap me in gauze and make me a martyred angel, or else a boring jealous wife.”
Did you know?
★ Kahlo did not sell many paintings in her lifetime and had only one solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953, just a year before her death at the age of 47; yet today she is one of the highest-selling women in art
★ As depicted in Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940), Kahlo would cut her long hair to punish husband Diego Rivera for his many infidelities
★ Frida had to endure over 30 surgical operations across her life, after suffering from polio as a child and surviving a severe bus accident as a teenager
Book your tickets here
Link will be sent to all ticketholders 30 mins before event starts
About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others. And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.

Salon de la Vie Season 5 - Helen Keller
2021-11-03 19:30 - 20:30 | Cornwall
Join us on November 3rd for our celebration of Helen Keller, the author, lecturer and disabled rights activist whose legacy is often de-politicised and reduced to the wholesome story of a deafblind woman’s triumph-against-adversity. In fact, Keller was a vocal and radical socialist, pacifist, suffragist and civil rights activist who led international campaigns against poverty, war and racism – a far cry from the pious and uncomplaining cliché taught to American school children.
We’ll be joined by special guest, actor and Audio Description Consultant Chloë Clarke who will explore the links between Keller’s physical impairments and her radical politics, as she came to understand the extent to which social conditions not only caused illness and premature death, but also contributed to society’s designation of blindness and deafness as disabilities.
Did you know?
★ Keller’s book ‘How I became a socialist’ was publicly burned by the Nazi Youth brigades, to which she responded: “History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas”
★ Streets are named after Helen Keller in Zürich, Switzerland; Getafe, Spain; Lod, Israel; Lisbon, Portugal; Caen, France; and in various towns across the US
★ Keller met every US president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon B. Johnson – that’s 14 presidents!
Book your tickets here
Link will be sent to all ticketholders 30 mins before event starts
About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others. And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.

StorySmiths (Tresco)
2021-10-25 18:30 - 20:00 | The Ruin Beach, St Martin's, Isles of Scilly
As part of the Creative Scilly festival, we’re delighted to be shipping our storytellers over to the Isles of Scilly for an intimate evening of songs, salutations, folklore and food around the fire! As the nights draw in and Allentide approaches, tales will focus on the strange and supernatural as we explore the marvellous mythology and larger than life characters of Cornwall and the Scillies. Expect wit, warmth and a bit of the wild as Rebecca Mordan and Shazz Andrew regale you with local legends and wonderful writers, supported by sounds of the sea from their trusty uke-a-lady!
More info and booking

StorySmiths (St Martin's)
2021-10-24 15:00 - 16:30 | Seven Stones Inn, Lower Town, St Martin's, Isles of Scilly, TR25 0QW

StorySmiths (St Mary's)
2021-10-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Porthcressa Beach, Hugh Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly

Salon de la Vie Season 5 - Vesta Tilley
2021-10-20 19:30 - 20:30 | Cornwall
Join us on October 20th for our celebration of Vesta Tilley, a hugely popular turn of the century music hall and vaudeville star and one of the era’s best-known male impersonators.
Tilley – real name Matilda Alice Powles – became a professional entertainer at the age of six and performed as a variety of male characters throughout her career, spoofing famous men and making fun of authority figures and the upper classes.
She often played the role of ‘principle boy’ in pantomimes which suited her cheeky, dandyish style – and of course a great opportunity for sending up gendered modes of behaviour.
We’ll be joined by special guest, actor Anna Tolputt who will sing one of Tilley’s iconic (and transgressive) turns and tell us about the woman who was variously known as ‘The London Idol’, ‘England’s greatest recruiting sergeant’ – and who was a big influence on 20th century drag king culture.
Did you know?
★ At the height of her fame, Vesta Tilley was the highest earning woman in England
★ Although Tilley’s shows were strictly family-friendly, the sight of a woman in trousers on stage at the Royal Command Performance so shocked Queen Mary that she hid behind her programme
★ During the First World War, Tilley ran military recruitment drives at her shows: in fact, she enlisted so many men in Hackney that they became known as “The Vesta Tilley Platoon”
Book your tickets here
Link will be sent to all ticketholders 30 mins before event starts
About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others. And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project.
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.

Protest and Revolution
2021-10-09 12:30 - 14:30 | The Blue Room, BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XT
Following the release of Briar March’s new documentary about the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, Mothers of the Revolution, SLG’s Artistic Director Rebecca Mordan is hosting this panel discussion between protesters young and old: women who took part in the peace camp in the 1980s and 90s (including the legendary Rebecca Johnson who features in the film) and young activists who joined the Greenham Women Everywhere recreation of the march from Cardiff to Greenham Common last month, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this historic protest.
They will also be discussing the upcoming short film Protest by Barbara Santi, which follows three young female activists who joined the recent march, connecting the #MeToo generation with the women who paved their way: two of these young women, Poppy and Xanthe, will also be on the panel.
More info and book tickets (free)
From the BFI website:
“Mothers of the Revolution (in LFF 2021 Journey Strand) tells the story of a group of women who opposed the siting of cruise missiles in the UK and set up the Greenham women’s peace camp, the biggest female-led protest since women’s suffrage. Forty years on, young activists who are standing up to fight for the issues of their time – climate, race and inequality of all kinds – join us for a conversation with some of the women who took part in the peace camp to discuss their experience of Greenham Common, connecting the #MeToo generation with the women who paved their way.”

Agatha Christie & other Shiversmiths (Torquay)
2021-09-13 19:45 - 22:00 | Torre Abbey, The King's Drive, Torquay, TQ2 5JE
‘From behind the curtains there still sounded the terrible high long-drawn scream – such a scream as Raoul had never heard. It died away with a horrible kind of gurgle. Then there came the thud of a body falling…’
From the International Agatha Christie Festival website…
Returning after their previous appearance in 2019, the award winning theatre company Scary Little Girls present an unforgettable evening of storytelling, featuring the work of Agatha Christie and other writers of the southwest, including Daphne Du Maurier, Adam Nevill and – with an unpublished mystery story to mark the centenary of his birth – the famous Devon crime writer Edmund Crispin (1921-1978).
Expect an evening of chills and thrills, dark wit and high drama from performers who have wowed audiences at Glastonbury, Port Eliot, Du Maurier, Brighton and Edinburgh festivals – and of course The International Agatha Christie Festival 2019.
Book Now

Greenham Common 40th Anniversary Celebration
2021-09-05 | Greenham Common, Burys Bank Road, Thatcham, RG19 6HN
Join us on Sunday 5 September on Greenham Common for a day of celebration to mark the 40th anniversary of the day women activists first arrived at RAF Greenham Common, beginning 20 years of peace camp protests.

Click here to find more info about the Greenham Women Everywhere project and the Anniversary March from Cardiff to Greenham (26 August to 3 September).

40th anniversary walk to Greenham Common!
2021-08-26 - 2021-09-04 | Cardiff City Hall to Greenham Common
The legendary Greenham Women’s Peace Camp has a big anniversary in 2021 – it will be 40 years since the first women marched from Wales to set up a peace camp outside RAF Greenham Common.
Our anniversary celebrations will culminate in a momentous re-creation of this march, leaving Cardiff on Thursday August 26th and arriving at Greenham on Friday September 3rd for a weekend of festivities!
(We are covid-proofing and activities will go ahead online if need be – but we are hoping to march, women, march!)
Full details on the walk from Cardiff to Greenham

Rescheduled: LIVE SALON DE LA VIE SEASON 4 FINALE - Taking The Stage
2021-08-11 19:30 - 21:00 | Scary Little Girls YouTube Channel
Season Four of Salon de la Vie will be a collaboration with Dr Naomi Paxton on everything you didn’t know about the suffragettes and their creative campaigning! We’ll combine recorded extracts, songs, special guests and live shows in this season to celebrate the wild, wonderful, wise and witty women of the first wave.
Join us on August 11th for Taking the Stage! Our all live season finale bringing the work of Elizabeth Robins, Evelyn Glover and Cicely Hamilton to life before your very eyes!
Tickets here – book now
Coming out of not just the Suffrage but the Woman’s Theatre movements, the three women we pay tribute to with our last show of season four combine wit, wiles and radical views and between took on the institutions of marriage, the war machine and sex trafficking.
Expect digital mayhem, songs, short scenes and feminist fun for all! Tickets for this £5, the only Salon of the season we’re charging for and we are super grateful for your support!
Come hear the hosts sing and chat!
Come play our interactive quiz!
And come drink the drink with Salon host Rebecca’s version of the ultimate Summer Cup (basically Pimms but really nice!) – you will need:
– a decent summer cup, like Sipsmiths or Sacred
– a decent lemonade, like Belvoir or Fentimans
– an elderflower liquor like St Germains
– and then any ice any fruit, veg or herbs you happen to be growing
Put all this together in a big jug with an extra long straw and enjoy while you watch!

Tickets here – book now
Did you know?
★Elizabeth Robins brought Ibsen’s plays to the UK, translating, producing and performing in them.
★ Cicely Hamilton wrote a book called ‘Marriage as a Trade’ in which she points out ‘The housekeeping trade is the only one open to us—so we enter the housekeeping trade in order to live. This is not always quite the same as entering the housekeeping trade in order to love.’
★Evelyn Glover created a book entirely of photographs of cats she had met through her campaigning and theatrical life!

About Salon de la Vie
Hosted by Scary Little Girls’ Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation, focusing each time on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history, drawing parallels with the achievements of activists today, to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, for themselves and for others. And we’re super proud that each salon has a custom illustration provided by the wonderful Jacky Fleming.
Come along every other Wednesday evening to join in with our singing, celebration and joy!
We’d like to thank our amazing funders Arts Council England for supporting this project
Huge thanks to DJ Stegosaurus for creating a fantastic playlist on Spotify to accompany this Season!
About Scary Little Girls
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub whose commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling is borne out by the variety of scary little work we have created and the support we have from our scary little artists and audiences.
