Power of Invention

Lockdown and the closure of Birmingham museums meant a nine month postponement for this site-specific production about Matthew Boulton’s ground-breaking Lunar Society. We reconfigured the show as an outdoor production in the gardens of Soho House in Birmingham, to make it covid secure.  Click ‘continue reading’ or scroll down for older posts about the show.

The show that almost went wrong

What could possibly go wrong, quipped our unflappable producer Julia as she signed up to her duties on Power of Invention back in 2019. Turns out, pretty much anything. The original plan was for a promenade show inside Soho House where the audience would meander through the house and encounter the industrial giants of the

Theatre is back!

Postponed from last year due to the pandemic, rehearsals are now underway for BOLDtext Playwright’s latest site-specific show, Power of Invention, celebrating Birmingham’s Lunar Society – with a wonderful all-female cast, stage manager and director.   The RSC’s Katy Stephens is joined by Adaya Henry, Itasha James and Simran Kular, with direction from Janet Steel, stage

Minted

Birmingham was riddled with forgers in the late eighteenth century. Some were so cocky that they even advertised on street signs.   Copper coins were in short supply. They were made by hand presses and so easy to forge that The Royal Mint didn’t bother making them. Its own study revealed that 92% of halfpennies were

Life is complicated

Like life, writing is about decisions and dilemmas. Especially when writing about characters from history. What do we know? Who were they really? Do the characters have to speak in ye olde worlde language…? James Watt undoubtedly is remembered for his extraordinary inventions. Mainly his steam engine, which he came to invent after trying to

Too many crumbs

When we started discussing Power of Invention, I knew I wanted to write a female character but as the Lunar Society didn’t allow women to join, or even take part in their meetings, I knew it was probably going to be a tough call. I then read about 18th century scientist LADY CATHERINE WRIGHT who’d

The wheel of history

In 1804, Yorkshireman JOSEPH PRIESTLEY died in Northumberland… Pennsylvania. Of moving to the US, he wrote, “it is now only that I can say I see nothing to fear from the hand of power, the government under which I live being for the first time truly favourable to me.” An unsurprising comment given that he

Power

MATTHEW BOULTON (1718-1809) was Birmingham’s foremost entrepreneur and industrialist, best known for his partnership with James Watt in developing steam engine technology, heralding a technological revolution in 18th century England.  In fact, Boulton was far more than this. His combination of engineering know-how, entrepreneurial ambition and an ability to inspire the brightest minds to collaborate,

BOLDtext heads to Soho House

On Friday 30th,  Saturday 31st July and Saturday 7th August 2021, BOLDtext Playwrights’ new site-specific & science-specific show, Power of Invention, will be performed at Soho House, the home of Birmingham’s Lunar Society. The show will explore the ground-breaking scientific advances inspired during the society’s full-moon meetings towards the end of the 18th century.   Centred