A Stellar start for new era in women-led theatre

Having left Edinburgh for Fife, Stellar Quines gives Frankenstein new life in the age of AI, ​writes Joyce McMillan

When Scotland’s women-led theatre company Stellar Quines take to the stage at the Lochgelly Centre this weekend, they will be celebrating not only the opening night of a brand new show, but their first full production since last autumn, when the company made the momentous decision to move from Edinburgh to a new base in Fife.

Founded in 1993 by a group of women theatre-makers led by actress and writer Gerda Stevenson, Stellar Quines is dedicated to improving opportunities for women in theatre, producing and celebrating their work, and promoting gender justice for all.

And over a generation, under artistic directors including Muriel Romanes and Jemima Levick, the company has produced an impressive list of thoughtful and challenging shows, ranging from early hit The Clearing, by Helen Edmundson, to Frances Poet’s 2019 play Fibres, about the scandal of the tens of thousands, including many women, who have died after exposure to asbestos.

Yana Harris stars as an AI learning about life in Stellar Quines' new show

As the company’s current artistic director Caitlin Skinner explains, though, in these post-pandemic times the company – long based in Edinburgh – found itself facing some profound questions about what it means to be a feminist company in these times, and how the company’s mission should relate not just to the theatre industry, but to the wider world.

“We were becoming more and more interested in questions about who gets to make our work, and who gets to see it,” says Skinner. “We were already working in Fife; there’s this wonderful youth arts worker, Rachel-Jane Morrison, and back in 2021 she invited us to work on youth engagement projects there.

“We founded Young Quines, our youth company, which has always been based in Fife; and we just found the whole environment there very supportive, with real opportunities to make contact with both young people, and the wider community.

“So we decided to make the move; and since last autumn we’ve been based in Kirkcaldy.

“We have a lovely office with a sea view, in the King’s Theatre on the Esplanade; and we’re really enjoying the opportunities that are opening up, both to make shows that will continue to tour around Scotland, and to make work in a different way, with communities in this area.”

The company’s first show made in Fife therefore brings together one of Scotland’s leading feminist writers for theatre, Julia Taudevin, with a professional cast of three – including Fife-based actors Shona White and Anthony Strachan – and performers from both Young Quines, and the local Quines Community Company.

The play, Frankie Stein, is based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a story that combines a tremendous feminist history with a high popular profile; and Taudevin’s 21st-century version tackles the fiercely topical subject of AI, as a super-intelligent bot called Frankie finds herself rejected by her tech bro bosses for being too emotional, and goes in search of her creator, seeking answers about her identity and future.

“Julia offered us a choice of stories,” says Caitlin Skinner, “and we thought this one would be great to work on – such a familiar title, and yet with so many complex themes to explore and develop. Then there came a point, as we worked on it with our companies, when it became clear that it was going to be a musical!

"So we brought in the wonderful composer and performer Bethany Tennick, and on we went.

“It feels as if many strands of our work are coming together in this show, and it’s great to be launching it at the Lochgelly Centre, which is a real community hub, and a venue that just embodies so much of what we want to achieve, in this new phase of the Stellar Quines story.”

Frankie Stein is at the Lochgelly Centre, Lochgelly, on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 April. Tickets at www.onfife.com/event/frankie-stein-l850​