'And what happens when the pendulum swings too far? We push back.'
A wickedly funny new play that explores the enigma of Mary Whitehouse: pearl-clutching prude or 'the most dangerous woman in Britain'?
In the 1970s, one twinkly old lady wielded extraordinary influence, fighting against what she believed was the UK's moral decline. Armed with only a typewriter in her garden, this seemingly harmless grandmother took on the BBC and the 'godless media' in a culture war that divided the nation.
Caroline Bird's play delves into Whitehouse's most explosive battleher infamous blasphemy trial against Gay News, which revealed the shocking power behind her sweet smile. It will challenge your beliefs about freedom, censorship, and explore one womans formidable resolve to push back the tide.
The Last Stand of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse is premiered at Nottingham Playhouse in 2025, starring Maxine Peake.
Caroline Bird is an award-winning poet and playwright.
She won The Forward Prize for best poetry collection in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Costa Prize 2020, the TS Eliot Prize 2017, the Ted Hughes Award 2017, and the Dylan Thomas Prize twice in 2008 and 2010. She was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2014.
She was the youngest ever member of the Royal Court Young Writer's Programme, tutored by Simon Stephens. Her plays include: The Last Stand of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse (Nottingham Playhouse, 2025); Red Ellen (Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse & Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, 2022); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Northern Stage, 2015); Chamber Piece (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, as part of the Secret Theatre season, 2013); and The Trojan Women (Gate Theatre, 2012).
Her Beano-inspired musical, The Trial of Dennis the Menace, was performed in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre in 2012.
She was short-listed for Most Promising New Playwright at the 2013 Off-West-End Awards.
