About the Show

Ellen Brammer's story of Elizabeth Thompson - a Victorian artist - performed by drag artists.

1874's London: Elizabeth Thompson stuns the Royal Academy with her painting, Roll Call. Five years later, she falls two votes short of becoming the first woman elected to the academy. In the interim, she shoulders the hopes and dreams of women across the country, while fighting for a place at a table.

Performed by a cast featuring drag artists, this new play combines theatre & music hall in this production which is recommended for ages 14+.

Critic Reviews (8)

“The show’s real success is in portraying the lives of those she inspired but for whom existing is hard – the Bessies and Franceses. They are the real stars. And in today’s world, the ones still struggling.”
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“There’s no denying that the play knows its audience and that its drag king-inflected playfulness is one way of putting across points of view that, in other hands, might seem merely a staged thesis. The climactic rallying cry prompts a cheer – and reminds us that the work of the revolutionary is never done.”
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"This show is animated by a delight in putting queer, trans and vaguely feminist themes in front of a receptive audience: but not much more than that."
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"On storytelling, character development and nuance, it is two and a half hours that goes nowhere. On representation, audience appeal and addressing past injustices, well, the reaction in the house to this Middle Child and Milk Presents collaboration will confirm that the job is done."
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“This is a play driven by polemic rather than realism or even incident, and at two hours plus interval that’s a testing amount of knowingly overstated satire.”
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“ ‘Modest’ throws so much in the air that it cannot tackle all that it raises but then again, the fact that it leaves us with unresolved, sometimes contradictory questions around women and power, adds to its nuance. And the show bubbles over with charisma, which wins us over.”
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“Taking inspiration from the Music Hall entertainment that would have been popular at the time, ’Modest,’ with its Drag King cast, succeeds in telling a second, and arguably just as important, story, and does much to promote representation on the stage. It also happens to be a whole lot of fun.”
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“ ‘Modest’ is distinctive in its acknowledgment of sexism across the centuries. And kudos to Fizz Sinclair - her performance is wondrous ecstasy as she lip-syncs and morphs from one character to the next. It might not be faultless - but ‘Modest’ is a quick-witted, bawdy, diamond in the rough.”
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Trailer

Creative team