Fantastically Great Women | Liverpool Playhouse Theatre | Review

Fantastically Great Women at the Liverpool Playhouse Theatre.  

I was so excited to hear about this production, but when I made enquiries about the audio description, I was told there was none. Appalled, I wrote to the producer to ask why a show about women's inequality is happy to discriminate against blind/visually impaired people. I received an email to say that they had arranged for an audio describer to narrate one of the shows! Delighted, I shared this across social media to the blind/visually impaired local groups. 

Fantastically great women followed Jade, an 11 year old girl who was on a school trip to a museum. Her class leave without her! How could they forget her? Feeling alone and scared as the tannoy announced the museum will close soon, Jade sneaks into the back, which is out of bounds. 

There are mannequins of Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot, Jane Austen, who refused to write under a man's name, Marie Curie, whose radiotherapy cancer treatment is still being delivered today, Emily Pankhurst who fought for women to vote, Rosa Parks the first black woman to refuse a white man a bus seat, Frida Kahlo, who had polio aged six, found her passion lay in painting. Gertrude Ederle, aged 20 she became the first woman to swim the English Channel. 

Together, these inspiring women showed young Jade that other people's happiness is not her responsibility and that others will make their own decisions (Jade’s parents are getting divorced and she feels torn). They also show Jade that she is special too, and wherever her passion may be, she too will one day change the world.  

The Liverpool Playhouse Theatre is a short walk from Liverpool Central train station. The traffic lights outside beep and have a twirly cone underneath the button to alert blind/deaf people when it is safe to cross. From here, it's pretty much a straight run. There is a small, indoor shopping area, Clayton Square. There are some silver bollards to contend with on the grey ground near the clear glass automatic doors (not great for visually impaired people). Once out of here, you pass the Radio City Tower, which is a flat area. When you reach Williamson Square, where, in the summer, fountains delight children by sprinkling water as they run across, the Playhouse Theatre is just to the right.

With a small foyer that reminded me of the London Adelphi, we were shown to our seats and given a demonstration of the headphones. The staff were lovely and said the narrator would like to speak with us. I got one of the last set of headphones. I was so pleased about this, as it meant my advertising worked!  

I slipped the headphones into my ears and...it worked! The reader gave an introduction that outlined the plot and when the music started, he read when the stage was silent, which I liked as it can be difficult to concentrate on two speakers at once.  

Afterwards, we spoke to the narrator, and on the way out, I noticed other visually impaired people and felt pleased that, had I not made enquiries to the production team about audio description, none of us would’ve been there.  

I hadn't been to the Liverpool Playhouse before. It was a lovely, cosy theatre that similarly to the Adelphi in London and The Floral Pavilion in New Brighton, has a ramped walkway that lead to the stage, so is great for wheelchair users. Even though we were sat under a canopy, the audio description headphones worked. This meant I was able to enjoy the show fully and know what was was going on.  

I didn't use the toilet, but I was told they do have a disabled toilet. 

The show had an all female cast and was uplifting, inspiring and amazing! I’d definitely recommend it, as it showed that no matter what your passion, or gender, you can entwine it into your story and change the world for the better!  

What will you do?