Centuries after their deaths, a mother and her two daughters reunite for the first time to come to terms with their wounds, their writing, and their reverberations through history.
Mary's Daughters tells the story of Mary Wollstonecraft, the 18th Century intellectual radical, and mother of Western feminism, along with her two daughters: the forgotten-by- history, illegitimate love-child Fanny Imlay, and the infinitely more famous Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. This feminist ghost story plunges the audience into a fluid, poetic, whirlwind tour through the lives, legacies, and times of these three incredible women. Shaped and misshapen by each other, they swap stories and memories, each intercutting and challenging the narrative offered by another. We hear the tireless writings of a genius out of her time, two sisters trying to reconcile the emotional wounds only families can create, and the birth of an iconic monster on the shores of lake Geneva.
This play written by Kaya Bucholc, in collaboration with Will Wallace, is a rallying cry for a world that centres radical kindness above all things.
*Pre-show music: "Hero Brother" by Sarah Neufeld
Mary's Daughters is a production of BiLLO Studio Ltd.
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Kaya moved to the UK to complete her master's degree in classical acting at LAMDA (2018). Since graduating, she has continued to live and work in London, appearing in the award winning production of The House of Yes at The Hope Theatre (2019), and Will & Co.'s Bard in the Yard, a touring solo show about William Shakespeare (2020-2023), the title role in Little Lion Theatre's Portia’s Julius Caesar (2023 and 2024) and of course, bringing her first full length play, Mary's Daughters, to the stage in 2024 at the Space Theatre in London. Kaya continues to enjoy writing and creating her own work, and has several scripts for both stage and screen currently in development. She is over the moon to be here performing at the Fringe for the first time and sharing Mary's Daughters at this year's festival.
Megan Carter (she/they) is an American actor and writer based in London. She holds a BA in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago and an MA in Classical Acting from LAMDA. Favourite stage roles include include: Victoria Frankenstein in Frankenstein, Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cordelia in Jekyll and Hyde, Viola in Thirteenth Night: Malvolio’s Revenge (all with British Touring Shakespeare); Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Whole Pack Theatre); Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Loyola); and Cressida in Troilus and Cressida (LAMDA). Megan is also a founding member of all-female Shakespeare company The Whole Pack Theatre. They have voiced characters in the audio dramas That Vampire Show (Tandon Productions), Gower Hall (11th Hour Audio), Accipiter (Dir. Joe Vevers), and in the English dubs of The Empress (Netflix), The Leopard (Netflix), and The Calendar Killer (Amazon).
Rachael trained at East 15. Credits include: Theatre: Maryland (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), The Seagull (Tower Theatre), Scandalous (Leicester Square Theatre), One P**ed Off Renter (Battersea Arts Centre). Film: The Three Musketeers Audio: The Unicorn Academy 1, 2 and 3, Aphrodite and the Duke.
Kay is a director, dramaturg, producer, and actor from Toronto, Canada. Kay’s theatre training comes from the prestigious Theatre Performance programme at Humber College in Toronto where she studied as an actor. She is a graduate of East 15’s Directing Programme where she was awarded an MA with distinction. She has also studied with GITIS International in Moscow, Russia, in partnership with East 15 Acting School.Directing credits include Lysistrata (how.dare.collective. Toronto Fringe 2017, Best Ensemble Nominee, My Entertainment World Awards 2017), Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (LowDown Theatre Company), The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Alumnae Theatre Company, New Ideas Festival 2018), CARMILLA (Montreal and Toronto Fringe, 2018), Cymbeline (East 15 Acting School, MFA International Acting Graduating Class,The Bridewell Theatre, 2023), The Bride and the Moon (East 15 Acting School, MA Acting Graduating Class, The Corbett Theatre, 2023), and Alice in Wonderland (East 15 Acting School, MFA International Graduating Class, The Corbett Theatre, 2023).Credits with Little Lion: Mustard (The Drayton Arms Pub Theatre, 2020), What You Will, or Twelfth Night (Tea House Theatre, 2020), and the UK premiere of Kat Sandler's Yaga (Drayton Arms Pub Theatre, 2022).
Will has been an aspiring writer since he was 13. This is his first play and first playwriting collaboration, if you don't count several high school musical scripts. He is an English teacher living in Toronto, but began his life at the Queen Charlotte Hospital in Hammersmith. He is a co-founder of the Young Writers' Conference at the Toronto International Festival of Authors.
Robert is a composer, musician and sound designer from Manchester, based in London. Robert has been writing music for theatre since he was sixteen years old. Later, he received a 1st Class Honours degree in Popular Music from Leeds College of Music in 2010. Robert returned to theatre in 2016. Self-producing The Rain God, which he scored and performed in, it premiered at VAULT Festival in early 2018 and described by The Stage as ‘gig-theatre’ - where storytelling meets live music. Robert has led on sound design for several other theatre productions most notable being Hamlet, by the Park Theatre (2017), and Haley McGee’s Olivier Award nominated show Age Is A Feeling (2022).
Isobel started her career as a Photographer following studying at the University of Westminster in 2017. She is now a freelance Stage Manager and Technician, alongside working full time at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. After assistant stage managing the First Folio event in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2023, Isobel is now making her Stage Managing debut at The Space with Mary’s Daughters.
Billy studied at Kingston School of Art, graduating as a graphic designer in 2010, but soon after beginning his career in the design world, his lifelong love of film quickly pulled him in a different direction. The founder and creative director of London based BiLLO Studio, a film production company, Billy is a writer, editor, filmmaker, and has created various short films, documentaries, corporate videos, and art films. Mary’s Daughters is Billy and BiLLO’s first venture into the world of theatre.
Amanda is a performer and creative producer passionate about bringing classic stories to new audiences. She graduated with an MA in Shakespeare Studies from King’s College London in 2023, and she now works in-house at Shakespeare’s Globe contributing to the creation of theatre for young people. In addition to her work at the Globe, Amanda has produced work at a variety of festivals, including Brighton Fringe, Camden Fringe, and the Bitesize Festival at Riverside Studios. She is thrilled to be working with BiLLO Studio to bring Mary’s Daughters to Edinburgh.
For their incredible support in this project the creators would like to give their heartfelt thanks to:
Michael Slater, Victoria Sena, Marysia Bucholc, Karen Krupa, Roberta Wedge, Will Wallace & Mia London, The Globe Theatre, and the whole team at TheSpaceUK!
Mary's Daughters would not have been possible without you!
If you would like to get in touch with the producers of Mary's Daughters
please email us at hello@billo.studio
Mary's Daughters is a production of BiLLO Studio Ltd.
