Famous People You've Never Heard Of

Elizabeth Blake has written  -and performs in "Fossil Mary", a new  play celebrating the life and remarkable discoveries of Mary Anning, the pioneering fossil hunter who found her first dinosaur skeleton at the age of 12 and whose skills led to the discovery of nearly every important dinosaur fossil of the early 19th Century.  Her work changed the way people thought about the evolution o...

The Leaf Collective are presenting their play A Little Green Leaf a this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.   The play is inspired by the life of Odette Hallowes (MBE, Legion d’Honneur, George Cross), Britain’s most highly decorated spy of the Second World War. This play tells the story of Odette’s service as an agent of the Special Operations Executive, resilience in the face of Gestapo bruta...

1914. The Great War rages. Britain recruits 30,000 Bantams, men between five-foot and five-foot-three to fight in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. 1918. A group of reporters visit the Front to write about the Bantams. One Bantam remains, Patrick Michael Wolfe, a Dubliner who signed up to secure Home Rule for Ireland. This is his story. A story about patriotism, prejudice, courage and betr...

Mary McKinnon was a businesswoman in the 19th century.  Her business was a brothel and bar.  One fateful day trouble broke out and Mary's demise was swift and merciless. Her story is an excellent illustration of how the law at the time - and society in general was heavily biased against women and the working class. Fat Pooch Productions are presenting a brand new play about Mary at this year&...

Louise Weber might have invented the Can Can.   She was a huge star in Paris where she danced at the Moulin Rouge (in fact she was the poster girl for the place), inspired Toulouse -Lautrec and beguiled the Prince of Wales. Known by her stage name of La Goulue (the glutton) long after her dancing career ended she had an incredible appetite for life, even when living in poverty at the end of her li...

Therese Lessore  (1884-1945) was an artist and founder member of the London Group.  She was also the third wife of Walter Sickert. In this episode Dr Jason Price talks about Lessore's life and work and we discover just what a trail blazer she was.   Jason's book  The Art of Entertainment Popular Performance in Modern British Art, 1880 to 1940 is an excellent read and is available from yo...

Charlotte Payne-Townshend did not like to be in the limelight but she deserves to be remembered as someone other than the wife of George Bernard Shaw.  After all, without Charlotte Shaw would not have had the financial security that enabled him to wrote so prolifically. Born into a wealthy Irish family Charlotte was a philanthropist and political activist, joining the Fabian Society and financing...

Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft were mother and daughter.  They never met, but were both brilliant writers, feminists and free thinkers. They both had exciting lives and they each crafted a book that has inspired generations.   So what might have ensued had these two formidable women actually come face to face?  This three part audio drama hopes to answer that very question! Mother of Monster...

Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft were mother and daughter.  They never met, but were both brilliant writers, feminists and free thinkers. They both had exciting lives and they each crafted a book that has inspired generations.   So what might have ensued had these two formidable women actually come face to face?  This three part audio drama hopes to answer that very question! Mother of Monster...

Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft were mother and daughter.  They never met, but were both brilliant writers, feminists and free thinkers. They both had exciting lives and they each crafted a book that has inspired generations.   So what might have ensued had these two formidable women actually come face to face?  This three part audio drama hopes to answer that very question! Mother of Monster...

They are the stuff of legend and song - the dashing women who defied gender stereotypes to plunder stagecoaches and acquire ill-gotten gains. But was it all as romantic as movies such as "The Wicked Lady" would have us believe...? Historian Sara Hiorns takes us on a journey back in time to talk about Moll Cutpurse, Katherine Ferrers and others.  Sara Hiorns: Sara was a diplomat for many...

What decision did you make today that had implications on the rest of your life? For Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland star player John White a simple choice to play golf made a devastating difference to the lives of his family when a freak accident saw him killed by lightning. John White was by all accounts a footballing genius.  His nickname, "the ghost of white hart lane" gained due to b...

“In any civilised community the arts... must occupy a central place. Their enjoyment should not be regarded as something remote from everyday life”  ⁠ ⁠ What a quote - what a woman!⁠ ⁠ Jennie Lee was an MP before she was old enough to vote.  She was the first Minister for the Arts and the main drive behind the formation of the Open University.  ⁠ She was also married to Nye Bevan, father of the NH...

We've all enjoyed those chatty radio and TV shows and podcasts where the presenters are mates in the real world or have a good rapport and every so often allow a little of their real lives to slip into the show's content.  But has anyone heard a show where the advice column s dealing out such gems as we find here....? Enjoy! "Women's Own (how to Kill Your Husband and Get Away W...

Call Backs takes us back to that weird post lockdown era when we were still sort of locked down.   All sorts of relationships were affected in all sorts of ways… This is a fun look back on those very strange times! Written by J.J. Leppink Performed by Greg Arundell & J.J leppink Studio recording & editing:  Harry Jacobs Support the show Thank you for listening.   If you've enjoyed tod...

Released to coincide with the Hackney History Festival  The Hackneyed Detective  is an audio drama about Daniel Ludlow, a  modern day private eye based in East London.⁠ ⁠ Daniel is down on his luck and takes solace from the imaginary world of the 1940's New York gumshoe Danny Ludlow.⁠   The Hackneyed Detective is an original play from the pen of:   J.J. Leppink Cast: Daniel/Danny Ludlow:  Ste...

Nellie Bly was an American journalist who is famous for her record breaking 72 day round the world trip.⁠ ⁠ Before that though she went undercover into an "insane asylum" to report on the appalling conditions to which the patients were subjected.⁠ ⁠ This short play by JJ Leppink guesses what might have happened in the time leading up to Nellie's incarceration.⁠ This is the first in...

A while ago we spoke with Dr Mary Shannon about Billy Waters and Mary's upcoming biography of him - "Billy Waters is Dancing". Well the book is now out (and a jolly fine read it is, too) and Mary has joined forces with historian Dr. Ben Marsh, artist Selena Scott and musician Angeline Morrison on the Age of Revolution's "Songs from the Shadows" project. The project is...

Avril Coleridge-Taylor (1903-1988);  Wikipedia says she was a "pianist".  She was.  She was also a composer and conductor (in fact she was the first female conductor of the band of the Royal Marines).   She was also the daughter of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Historian and author Stephen Bourne and musician and author Patricia Hammond talk about her  talent and her eventful  life in this ep...

We're delighted and privileged to be releasing today's podcast on the 200th anniversary of the death of Billy Waters. Born in 1776 Waters was a familiar sight on the Strand in London.  He was a black ex-sailor who had been invalided out of the Navy after losing a leg.  With a crude wooden prosthesis he danced and also played the violin outside the Adelphi Theatre.  He became so famous th...

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)  was a British composer. His mother was English and his father from Sierra Leone.  He referred to himself as "Anglo-African" and was referred to by white musicians in the US as the "Black Mahler", which is the title of the biography by  Charles Elford. Coleridge-Taylor entered the Royal College of Music at the age of only 15 and was taught by...

Paula David's one woman show is a journey through menopause and a discovery of self. It is poetic and musical, has movement and dance and examines something that all women experience and few have the courage to speak about.  It is also highly amusing! Paula spoke to us about the show ahead of her one night at the Exchange in Twickenham on 29th March as part of the One Woman Wednesday season....

This one-woman show, based on the book and television series She-Wolves: The Women who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by historian Helen Castor, depicts the lives of five of England’s most famous medieval queens (Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and Mary I) using speech, song, dance, and animation. Performer Laura Careless chats to us about how the show...

Yootha Joyce, best known for "George and Mildred" was one of the best known TV stars of the 1970's.  But she was so much more... Award -winning actress Caroline Burns-Cooke tells her story in the  brilliant one woman show "Testament of Yootha", showing for one night only at the Exchange in Twickenham on 22nd March as part of the One Woman Wednesday season to celebrate Wome...

Isadora Duncan:  dancer, muse, innovator, political activist and so much more was born in the USA in 1877.  She died in Nice, France in 1927 in a freak accident that is sadly the thing that she seems to be most remembered for.  Well we want to change that! Elizabeth Blake is an actress, dancer and choreographer.  She has written and is currently performing a one woman show about Isadora that has w...