REVIEW: Sophia by Frances Poet

Review by Emma McCaffrey Review: 4 and a half stars Sophia is the fifth play of the Edinburgh Lyceum's Sound Stage season. Written by the talented Frances Poet, it tells the true story of Sophia Jex-Blake, leader of the Edinburgh Seven and their fight against severe sexism in their university before they became the first women to be able to study medicine and become working doctors. I’ve seen a lot of shows that showcase the unfairness and bigotry that women suffered a long tome ago that is still an issue today. I’ve also been in a show myself through Lung Ha that addressed the issue though in a more comic way in “The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde” This is a play that will make you very angry, very satisfied but also restless and will leave you unsettled. It’s based on real life – and real life never really has a settled ending. The play captures the frustration of these women, the unwarranted fear of change and the brutal attacks these women endured simply for speaking up for themselves. It reminded me of the riots in the sixties and the riots of 2020 – the public's changing attitude as they were faced with e harsh reality of what society was doing to a minority. Getting to watch or listen to the show live was at first tricky to navigate but once I got it, all was well. Every actor involved in this show gave it their all – my personal favourites were Feltcher Mathers as Maraget Todd and Elizabeth Poet as May Thorne. Poet captures a innocent character who easily identifies the injustice her mother and her friends are going through and when her determination for her own rights fades, this helps us as an audience to get behind Sophia – excellently played by Madeine Worrall – who decides to fight on for the younger generation. With Maraget Todd, Mathers is able to show both vulnerability, embarrassment and anger at her predicament. While women’s right press forwards, she is still trapped in a society that slowly sees her worth but shuns her right to love. Having already known Todd’s fate in history, I hoped Francis Poet would maybe create some happy ending for her but sadly it was not to be. It hit me that whilst we will always fight for change, something else that really needs our attention gets left behind. I give the show 4 and a half stars. I think this would make a great show on stage but that’s my personal preference – for what it is, I think this should get more notice than it has. For more information: https://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on/production/sophia