The Edinburgh Seven

Very interesting and well acted play. So glad we got to see it

Beautifully written, paced, and acted, 'The Edinburgh Seven' is a poignant interpretation of the true story of seven women's collective (and personal) struggles for a voice in the practice and knowledge of medicine. A well-thought and engaging show well worth seeing!

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance _ the characters were well portrayed and this made it very easy to empathise with them and truly appreciate the courage with which they fought to achieve their goals.
Well done all of you !

What a magical experience. The true story of the Edinburgh Seven, seven women who faced enormous and hideous challenges in their quest to graduate medical school, is brought brilliantly to life by this creative production. The simple set allows the seven performers to shine, each in a costume featuring a stylized version of a part of anatomy (lungs, brain, musculature, eyes, etc.) that reflects that woman's character.

This show deserves to be widely seen, and it clearly is being, as several performances have sold out! Congratulations to the performers. I recommend everyone catch this show while it's in town.

A story that needs to be told, is being told beautifully by the very capable Mermaids Performing Arts Fund, and just needs you to go and listen.
It somehow seems wrong that it is not being staged at Surgeons hall, let’s hope it won’t take another 150 years!

This is both an excellent telling of the story of the 'Edinburgh Seven' (the Septem contra Edinam - "Seven against Edinburgh"), and an emotional tour de force that will leave you both understanding - and feeling - the injustices committed against these women. Fittingly played by an all-female cast of St Andrews' students – and, remarkably, a first play by another St Andrews’ student - it is an unforgettable experience.

The play starts with a 'flash forward' to the aftermath of the Surgeons' Hall Riot of 1870, when the campaign against the women reaches its climax with hundreds of male students attempting to stop them taking their anatomy exam. Their way to the exam room is blocked and rubbish and mud (and insults) thrown at them, before the gates to the exam room are slammed shut. We see the women eventually making it to the sanctuary of the exam room, frightened, battered and muddy.

The play then tells the story of how the women came to be in this situation - with Sophia Jex-Blake being refused the chance to study medicine at Edinburgh University in 1869, having initially been accepted. She then places a notice in the Scotsman newspaper asking other women to join her. Six women reply, and together their application is approved by the University Court.

At first, the play seems to be a fairy straightforward telling of the women's story, but it comes to life with Isabel Thorne's monologue. Thorn is older than most of the other students, and more experienced - married, with several children, and having lived in China for some years. The other students are motivated by the injustice of women not being permitted to study medicine, but, for Thorn, the primary reason for wanting to be a doctor is a conviction that the death of her first child was down to the attending doctor being a man, who did not have a woman's understanding of children.

The other actors are cleverly dressed to represent different organs of the body, but Thorn is dressed simply in black. And when she stands there, in her mourning clothes, clutching her abdomen, and wishing only to be able to hold her baby son again, the audience is totally captivated. What had, up to then, been a story of women's rights, becomes a visceral understanding of the need for women, not only to be doctors, but to also to have the right to be looked after by female doctors.

The play goes on to detail the difficulties the Edinburgh Seven had to overcome to complete their studies. They were charged much more than male students, and, when Edith Pechey achieves the highest marks in her first term Chemistry exam, she is denied the Hope Scholarship, which is rightfully hers - simply because she is female. And, gradually, the initially welcoming attitude from male students and professors hardens into animosity and then outright misogyny – culminating in the riot that the play starts with.

The quality of the writing can be seen in passages like this, when we are not only presented by the increasing difficulties the women experience, but also by their differing attitudes to the situation. This is not the feminist dialectic it could so easily have become, but the human story of young women trying to do something they feel is right, but being faced by incomprehensible and frightening animosity and hatred.

If you are jaded by the abundance of the usual Fringe productions, and would welcome something different – something both informative and moving – I can thoroughly recommend this excellent production. But hurry – it was sold-out the night we saw it!

Absolutely amazing show with a very important message and an incredible performance from the very talented actors. The 50 minutes absolutely flew by. Loved the acting, loved the outfits. Would absolutely recommend!!

I really enjoyed the show! Great acting and writing. Could not recommend more!!

The powerful story of the first 7 female medical students in the UK, is told in an engaging & passionate performance by 7 talented women. The script is thought provoking and engaging. Some clever choreography, delivered with perfect timing made a simple format surprisingly impactful. Clever references to the study of anatomy can also be seen designed subtly into the costumes. Highly recommended.

Really enjoyed this clever script with powerful performances about important women. Sold out so far so book if you can.

A powerful & spellbinding show telling the true, and still relevant story of 7 brave women who fought to study medicine in 1860s Edinburgh. The powerful performances and well constructed script hold the audiences attention from start to finish, I couldn’t fault it! 100% recommend

A brilliant, wrenching piece about the first women to attempt to graduate medical school in Edinburgh. Phenomenal performances by all seven women, and a lovely, true-to-the-era script that at points blends all their voices together into riveting soundscapes. In this summer of 2024, when, as an American, I'm feeling optimism about the possibility of a Madame President, this show reminded me that the successes attained by women today are built on the often unsuccessful struggles of the trailblazers that went before- women fearless enough to do the work of clearing the path for their fellow sisters to walk after them. Absolutely wonderful play; don't miss it.

Lovely and compelling telling of a niche but important story. Definitely something to go see! All actors were wonderful and the script had some beautiful references and metaphors. Highly recommend!

Great show - loved it. David from The Red Room.

This is a powerful story, very well done that unfortunately still resonates today.

A must see. I concur with the previous audience reviews. Indeed, this is a powerful and passionately performed play. Kudos to the young actress who wrote and directed it.

The show is powerful and heartrending, with the use of a minimalist approach; on the stage are seven desks and seven chairs. The recorded (authoritative) male voice to announce and instruct their admissions and exams represents the perpetual oppression and control imposed upon women. The performers/characters’ individual and collective lines demonstrate their personal and collective journeys, which may resonate with many other women who fought against injustice and violence rooted in sexism in history.
https://theatrereviewskurahashi.wordpress.com/2024/08/14/a-powerful-work-by-women-on-women-the-edinburgh-seven/

A very powerful show starkly taking the audience through the hardships faced by the first female medical students in the UK. The story develops from solid exposition and character development into bringing the audience right into the centre of the action, creating the feeling of being right alongside the women portrayed. Prop and costume design deserves special mention for intricacy, detail and symbolism being added in places the audience would not usually be expected to notice. An exemplary performance by the cast stirs all the emotion of the story, making the overall message of the show last long after the audience leave the theatre. Overall a highly recommended show for those interested in feminist history, although the subject matter is so important for the modern age that all should take the time to go and see it.

Strongly recommend. Important Edinburgh story effectively (and touchingly) presented. Unfortunately still all too relevant.