Putting women
centre stage

Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company was created in 1975 as a performers’ collective by a group of professional actors and musicians who wanted to make exciting political theatre which put women’s lives and experience centre stage.

Between 1975 and 1993 the company produced thirty major shows, ranging in style from epic to surreal, straight play to cabaret. It was one of the most influential feminist theatre companies of its time.

International in outlook, the company produced both new writing by young British playwrights and British premieres of work from Chile, Finland, France, Italy and the U.S.A. Newly commissioned music was a feature of many shows.

With financial support from the Arts Council (ACGB), it toured throughout Britain, reaching new audiences in clubs and community centres as well as mainstream theatres. It also performed at international festivals in Rome and Boston.

To bring the work of Monstrous Regiment to new audiences today, this website makes extensive use of digitalised material from its archive records, now held in the V&A’s Theatre and Performance Archives in London.

Monstrous Regiment’s aims and achievements were intertwined with those of the women’s movement and of alternative theatre in the 1970s and 80s. We hope this website throws light on these connections and their potential relevance today.