1980s Sheffield, Thatcher’s Britain: politics, passion, protest... where anything might happen and usually does.
Three female mechanics set up their own garage in a run-down area of the city, naming it after Gwenda Stewart, a pioneering racing driver.
Gwenda’s Garage is a new musical – a joyful, exuberant, queer call to arms, fired by fun, feminism, friendship, and above all an affirming belief in the power of collective action.
Dismantling the patriarchy one spark plug at a time.
Created by an all-lesbian team of writers and composers, the show draws on oral histories from the founders of the real Gwenda’s Garage, and women who fought to make space for themselves in a hostile world.
Gwenda’s Garage was founded in 1985 in Sheffield by three mechanics: Ros Wollen (aka Roz), Annette Williams and Ros Wall. They defied the odds in a male-dominated field, establishing their own repair workshop, which went on to become a hub for women’s education and activism alongside the day-to-day of car repairs.
The musical follows mechanics Bev, Carol and Terry, their apprentice Dipstick, and ally Feona, as they fight Section 28 and advocate the right to live free from prejudice, creating space for women and LGBTQ+ rights.
Gwenda's Garage is written by Nicky Hallett with music by Val Regan from Sheffield-based Out of the Archive, a company dedicated to using theatre and music to uncover and amplify forgotten lives, particularly those of LGBTQI+ and working-class communities.
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