This performance is repeated throughout the day:
An atmospheric promenade theatre piece about the Pattle Sisters, written specifically for the Watts Gallery exhibition space, and in honour of International Women’s Day.
Written by Laura HartProduced and directed by Charity Wakefield
Using the objects and insights presented in Women of Influence: The Pattle Sisters as a treasure trove of historical delights to be mined, writer Laura Hart beautifully brings to life the Pattle sisters and their stories, in a moving and funny theatrical experience.
Charity Wakefield’s deft direction guides the audience around the exhibition, creating the unique atmosphere of an artist’s salon in the mid 1800s, sharing snippets of life and deepening our understanding of these extraordinary women’s legacy.
‘Pattledom’ is a unique play about seven sensational sisters, weaving a magical thread through the exhibition space, revealing their close connection, artistry and collective power.
Performances
Each performance will run for approximately 30 minutes and will be followed by time to explore the exhibition with the Curator.
Following the promenade performance of Pattledom, audiences are invited to stay for a special Q&A with writer Laura Hart and Producer/Director Charity Wakefield.
This informal and engaging conversation offers a rare opportunity to explore how the extraordinary lives of the Pattle Sisters were transformed into an immersive theatrical experience created specifically for Watts Gallery. Laura and Charity will discuss their creative process, from uncovering stories within the Women of Influence: The Pattle Sisters exhibition to shaping character, voice and movement within the gallery space itself.
Audience questions are warmly encouraged, making this a shared moment of reflection on history, storytelling and the power of collective female voices.
Enjoy a selection of delicious light bites from Mandira’s Kitchen and a selection of drinks will be available from the paying bar.
Laura Hart completed her art degree at the University of Wales, College Newport, before moving to London to join the picture library at the Wellcome Trust- where she first encountered the work of Julia Margaret Cameron. This early exposure to photographic history led her to a postgraduate course in photography at Central Saint Martins, after which she worked as a photography assistant and later established herself as a freelance fashion photographer.
During this period Laura travelled internationally and set up her own studio in East India Dock, working across advertising, editorial, and creative commissions. Her clients included Marie Claire, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and Harrods.
Laura continued to deepen her understanding of Cameron and her circle, attending many events surrounding her bicentenary in 2015 while honing her screenwriting and historical research skills, and began to write creatively about her.
For the past seven years Laura has worked as a photographer at Sotheby’s, a role that has enriched her practice and brought her closer to material relating to Cameron and her sisters.
Laura’s research for this site specific piece at the Watts Gallery widens her frame of exploration. It examines the Pattle sisters as a network of fiercely imaginative women who forged a creative refuge for themselves within the strictures of Victorian society, an informal salon run by women, sustained by intellect, affection and a relentless desire to encourage and make art.
Pattledom, Laura Hart’s debut play, brings moments of this world to life, celebrating the sisters’ intertwined legacies and giving theatrical form to these iconophiles who insisted on shaping their own creative narratives.
Laura is currently working with Charity Wakefield on a feature film about Julia Margaret Cameron.
Charity Wakefield is most widely known as an actress, with a colourful resumé of critically and commercially acclaimed work, including The Great, Wolf Hall, Any Human Heart, and Sense and Sensibility.
Charity is also a successful producer and fledgling director. She co-produces a bi-annual night of immediate theatre called ‘5 x 5’ together with Florence Keith-Roach, in which five writers are challenged to each write a short play in response to a theme. The roaming event evolves each time it is staged, depending on the venue.
Charity is co-executive producer on the documentary feature ‘Maestra', made predominantly by women. It follows five women from around the world as they compete in the only all-women competition for conductors. The film explores the idea of breaking the glass ceiling in a role largely dominated by men.
Other credits include producing the woman-led comedy thriller feature film 'A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life', the short film ‘Wraps' which is set in the world of women’s boxing and how it can help in the fight against addiction, and a documentary short ‘Memento Vitae’ about one woman’s lifetime of memories associated with her vast collection of clothes and possessions.
Charity is a passionate environmental activist and is an Ambassador for The Woodland Trust. She is committed to improving environmentally positive processes in theatre and filmmaking, and she has multiple works in development.
Charity is currently working with Laura Hart on a feature film about Julia Margaret Cameron.