Last Updated on February 7, 2026
Outlandish Feminist Pop Musical Biopic
3.5 out of 5.0 starsWhere to start with Mary Wollstonecraft? Writer, philosopher, and early advocate of women’s rights nearly 200 years before bras were burned in the 1970s.
Writer Maureen Lennon (Guts! The Musical) has joined forces with singer-songwriter Billy Nomates (aka Tor Maries) to create Mary and the Hyenas, a riotous musical drama celebrating Wollstonecraft’s life and untimely death. The show was developed with the support of the National Theatre’s Generate programme, which assists the next generation of theatre makers.
The story’s premise is that Mary Wollstonecraft is speaking to her newborn daughter, Mary Shelley (future author of Frankenstein), during the final ten days of her life before succumbing to puerperal (child-birth) fever. Through flashbacks, we witness Wollstonecraft’s trailblazing life, loves and literary achievements. It’s an electrifying rollercoaster ride taking us from Hackney and Newington Green to Ireland, the “Terror” of revolutionary Paris and even Scandinavia. Sitting at home, sewing, was never Mary’s style.
The musical score has a boppy 1980s alternative synth feel evoking both The Cure and early Madonna. Typical pop numbers include “Utopian Dreams” and “Warrior of Words” although the strongest songs are the ballads; the love song “If You Let Me Fall For You” for Mary’s courtship with Gilbert Imlay and a lament after her suicide attempt, “Catch Me When I Fall”. The show is performed by a six-piece female troupe led by flame-haired Laura Elsworthy (Reykjavik, Hampstead Theatre) as the eponymous Mary.
Visually, Mary and the Hyenas is a tour de force. With corsetry and bustled skirts, the flamboyant period costumes are reminiscent of 1990s John Galliano or Vivienne Westwood collections. For the scene in Paris, actors burst out as full-blown New Romantics in an Adam Ant pop video. This, and moments such as Kate Hampson (Romeo and Juliet, Royal Exchange Manchester) tittering in lofty showgirl feathered head-dress walking her invisible poodles on stiff neon dogs’ leads are memorable and enchanting. The scene on a sailing ship at sea is beautifully done. I also enjoyed – although this is perhaps the wrong word – the French guillotine tableaux with actors slumping as if their dead heads had just fallen.
The musical numbers are a little repetitive – although this never stopped Les Miserables being the success it is. I wonder with “Hyenas” whether the female pop musical “Six”, about Henry VIII’s wives has been an inspiration. My companion and I also agreed Mary and the Hyaenas nodded towards the campness of The Rocky Horror Show.
The harmonies of the group’s voices worked nicely together. Individually, however, none stood out as memorably exceptional singers, at least not with this material. As actors, they each conveyed engaging moments portraying the various roles they played. Kate Hampson as Wollstonecraft’s foil, and eventual husband, William Godwin bedecked in green, was especially amusing.
I was confused at first whether the appearance of Kat Johns-Burke’s commanding Fanny Blood character in a red cloak was a jokey metaphor for the onset of Wollstonecraft’s menstruation. In fact, this was the real name of one of Wollstonecraft’s beloved friends after whom she named her first daughter, Fanny Imlay, the elder half-sister of Mary Shelley.
The set, made from various moveable wooden boxes served its purpose to create height and occasionally storage cubby holes for Mary’s study materials and other props. It looked dull and blocky like one of my son’s Minecraft games though. It worked best when you forgot it was there either during the ship sailing scene or when the giant bed was wheeled out.
Whilst I certainly appreciated the concept of the show, I did feel it was still a work in progress. Wilton’s is always a charming venue, but with some reworking, I can picture Mary and the Hyenas, one day, working on a bigger platform. There’s a kernel of something dazzling that might attract broader appeal if it were reworked. The public isn’t familiar enough with the Wollstonecraft story and the plot would benefit from tightening and focusing on her legacy and some context. The finale tries to do this, with mentions of Millicent Fawcett and Virginia Woolf, but the journey getting there roamed as much as Wollstonecraft’s travels and love interests.
The story of Mary Wollstonecraft, whilst not hugely well known, does have enduring resonance for a modern audience. The scene with chants of “Lock her up!” had obvious nods to Republican voters’ castigation of Hillary Clinton in Donald Trump’s 2015 presidential election campaign. Wollstonecraft’s fiery determination that women should have “have power not over men, but themselves” is not a problem that has gone away two hundred years later.
Mary and the Hyenas will be at Wilton’s Music Hall until 29 March. It’s an intriguing production presented in a light-hearted manner that doesn’t belittle the feminist message.
Mary and the Hyenas – until 29 March
Wilton’s Music Hall
Grace’s Alley
London E1 8JB
Looking for something different? We highly recommend Dear England, currently showing at the Olivier
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