Mary’s Daughters is a feminist ghost story performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2025. It tells the story of three women: Mary Wollstonecraft, an 18th-century intellectual and mother of feminism; her daughter Fanny Imlay, who is mostly forgotten; and her daughter Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. The play presents their lives, writings, and the effects of their histories. The three women reunite after their deaths to address the emotional wounds caused by family relationships.
The play was written by Kaya Bucholc in collaboration with Will Wallace. Paul Levy spoke with Kaya about the play, its origin and the meticulous research that lies behind the Excellent Rating it received from FringeReview at the Edinburgh Fringe 2025.
“In my home city of Brighton, many of us often walk down to the pier to watch the murmuration. Just to feel something stirring. That is what happens in this piece. Something stirs. In one moment there is synergy, in the script and these three connected souls join up and the wordplay becomes a together-dance. In another, conflict, accusation and anger erupt and, through movement, physical stage placement and dialogue, the three break apart and fragment. It all makes for compelling drama.
“I thoroughly recommend you go and see this excellent piece of work, if only for the demonstration of how theatre can evoke both a milieu and something that feels simultaneously historical and contemporary.” Paul Levy, FringeReview
Book tickets here.
