The Nine-Day Queen by Jen Tucker

In the aftermath of an attack which puts her best friend in a coma, a teenage girl learns to cope with the help of the ghost of Lady Jane Grey. The Nine-Day Queen follows 15-year-old Rita as she waits by Lena’s bedside for nine days. Wracked by survivor’s guilt and overcome by rage and grief, she hallucinates the ghost of Lady Jane Grey. For nine days, Rita and Jane teach each other to be brave in a world where women’s bravery can feel futile. An intergenerational exploration of female plight through the ages, The Nine-Day Queen is a gritty and honest portrayal of what it means to exist as a young woman in the 21st and 16th centuries alike.

‘In recent years, I think our culture has seen a rising and empathetic interest in the experiences of Tudor women. I wanted to join in the conversation and investigate what it means to feel connected to women of the past, bringing them to life onstage and exploring how history may teach us how to navigate our current social landscape. I have always felt a sense of admiration for Jane Grey’s tragic story; I wrote The Nine-Day Queen not only as an indictment of gendered violence, but also as a celebration of female intelligence, resistance and the power of sisterhood in the face of adversity.’ – Jen Tucker, writer of The Nine-Day Queen.

‘Jen Tucker is an exceptionally talented writer…she continues to be a brilliantly promising writer and director.’ – Impact Magazine

The production is the second adventure for Itchy Feet Theatre Ltd, a nomadic production company recently founded by South London-based Jen Tucker and Beth Scott. The company hopes to continue performing around the Greater London area, and will dedicate itself to platforming queer artists and promoting non-traditional work which questions the world it portrays.

The Nine-Day Queen will be performed at Barons Court Theatre, 14th-19th May at 7.30pm. Tickets can be found here.

The Nine-Day Queen features a cast and team of recent graduates and early-career artists. Itchy Feet Theatre hopes to continue creating ground-breaking work with early-career theatre makers; contact the company on Instagram at @itchyfeettheatre with any enquiries!