‘The Women of the Raj’ by Brian Freeland

Brian Freeland has written a dozen stage scripts (nine produced so far, four of them published). Following comments that he didn’t write many good roles for ladies, he staged a piece about the British women in India during the second half of the Raj:

“Called Letters from the Hen House, it was compiled mainly from letters, diaries and memoirs of the period. Six excellent roles for the ladies and only four men. Elements from that script together with some of the original research material form the basis of this talk. When the Colonial Administrators arrived to take over from the East India Company they were often accompanied by their wives: wives who spoke only English, who mixed only with other wives, and who couldn’t even communicate with their household staff. Wives who made great demands on their husbands. As one Indian wrote later ‘I don’t think they realised what a menace they were. If the memsahibs had stayed in Britain there might never have been a Mutiny’.”

Coffee will be served from 10.15am, with the main talk beginning at 11am sharp, and lunch from 12.30pm.

Lunch & Talk ticket price: £22 (Members) & £24 (Guests)
Talk only ticket price: £10 – FREE for first-time visitors

Cheques payable to ‘English-Speaking Union’ should be sent to:
ESU Luncheon Secretary, 3 Stonemasons Yard, Salisbury SP1 2HX
[email protected]

Direct transfers can be made to:
Bank: Coutts & Co, 440 Strand, London WC2R 0QS
Sort Code: 18-00-02
Account Name: English-Speaking Union of the Commonwealth
Account No: 01817590
Please mark the transfer clearly as “SalisLunch”