The Moon and Miss Herschel
On Tuesday 13 March 1781 , William Herschel noticed something in the sky he had never seen before . He had discovered the planet Uranus . And about 190 years later , on Sunday 20 July 1969 , the first men walked on the moon .
These two fascinating , yet seemingly disparate narratives were seamlessly woven together by Jim Grant and Mark Beverley in The Moon and Miss Herschel focusing on the scientific siblings William and Caroline Herschel ( Riccardo Roma and Rhiannon Durant ). The play explores their groundbreaking discoveries and the impression they made on a young girl named Diane ( Sophie Rayment ), whose brilliance at school leads her to study Physics and become an extraordinary scientist .
The lives and careers of two female scientists explored – the real Caroline Herschel ( 1750-1848 ) and the fictional Diane ( 1900s )
The show gave a voice to the previously overlooked Caroline Herschel , who made many important discoveries of her own , and also addressed the current struggles of women in science , through Diane ’ s eyes . The performance was smooth , creative and energetic . It managed to combine moments of raucous comedy ( Isabella Munday , as the nagging mother , had people rolling in their chairs and clapping with laughter ) with the serious themes of loss and pain , explored through Caroline Herschel ’ s life and Diane ’ s battle to pursue her dreams . These two interwoven stories created a fascinating and immensely enjoyable evening of science , history and drama , with the final scene giving voice to other forgotten women in their many and varied languages ( German , French , Spanish and Russian , to name a few ), to give a poignant and touching end to this extraordinary play .
Olivia Scott-Smith , Lower Sixth
48
PERFORMING ARTS