Petticoat Council

Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

About the Show

The true story of a group of women in Bishops Itchington who became the 1st female council in the UK. This local small town tale delights with modern folk music, dance & storytelling, as we follow the story of how a real life group of housewives in a rural Warwickshire Village broke down barriers to transform the area & community around them, forming the first female council in Britain. In the wake of the devastation that war brings, & with Britain & its people still struggling to be anything but austere – these women brought about change & hope, showing how to make great change on a local level, inspiring a nation.

Our production incorporates storytelling, song, dance, and puppetry. With songs from the charts, mixed into folk arrangements and movement pieces (based around mangles) this is a story following the strength of women with an all female cast. Basically, this story, of these women, didn’t happen in a city. It isn’t in London, or Manchester or Birmingham, although it’s near Coventry. It happens in a place you wouldn’t expect, a place you wouldn’t expect a revolution to happen. And from women you wouldn’t expect to start a revolution. And where do revolutions begin? Like everything, they begin with a mother…