Mary Shelley: daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft; lover of Shelley; author of Frankenstein…

Helen Edmundson’s compelling play explores a crucial episode in the early life of Mary Shelley - her meeting and scandalous elopement aged sixteen with Percy Bysshe Shelley, and its consequences for her sisters, her stepmother and above all, her troubled father, the political philosopher William Godwin.

Mary Shelley was first staged in a co-production between Shared Experience, Nottingham Playhouse and West Yorkshire Playhouse, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in March 2012.

‘Full of literary intelligence, feminist fire and feminine understanding’
- York Press

‘Passionate, and at times tragic… it’s testament to the quality of the script and the performances that it flies by’
- Yorkshire Post

‘Gripping… Without ever reducing Mary Shelley to an issue drama, Edmundson suggests the destructive nature of a life lived without compromise’
- The Times

‘This is a powerfully told story that will no doubt enjoy a successful run in Leeds, and beyond’
- Whatsonstage.com

‘This is a great introduction to two pivotal years of Mary Shelley’s life, after which she published the acclaimed Frankenstein, and inspires the spectator to look beyond the stories into the writer’s existence’
- www.thepublicreviews.com