Imagine what a woman’s life was like if she was born in 1809 as a servant’s daughter. They call her Hen and decide, as she is 'merely a girl', she will at least be useful. But then... there is another child born that day, in the same house, and he is the master’s son: the extraordinary Charles Darwin!
Behind a great man, as the saying goes, stands a great woman - why not a great servant? Hen was there from the start, Charles’s playmate and friend, observing his shenanigans as a wayward youngster, eventually becoming his maid, assistant and family factotum.
We meet Hen when she has had enough of the mess and the carcasses, the flesh eating plants and the pinned butterflies. A woman can only put up with so much, and life has thrown a lot at our resilient and loving Henrietta Brown. Watch Hen dishing the dirt on the Darwins and finding her own way as the world for Victorian women begins to change.
Reviews
Endearing, touching, and certainly relatable.
- Edinburgh Fringe Review, ★★★★
SwanWing Productions have created a neat little piece with a lot of heart and humanity.
Loud Noises Depictions and references to ViolenceAdditional Content Warning: Victorian themes: sickness and death of children and husband, poverty. Some references to violence, cruelty to animals and hunting.