'In its revelation of mother-daughter emotions over the years, the play is without rivals. It is a classic' The Times
'This is a landmark play. The theatrical equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile; like Caryl Churchill's
Top Girls, pointing the way for the next generation of playwrights in form and content'
Guardian Charlotte Keatley's first main stage play My Mother Said I Never Should was premiered in 1987 at Contact, Manchester, and in 1989 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. It has been translated into twenty-two languages and is performed across the world. The play moves back and forth through the lives of four women, and sets the enormous social changes of the twentieth century against the desire to love and to be loved. In 2000 it was chosen by the Royal National Theatre as one of the hundred Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century.
Commentary and notes by Charlotte Keatley.
Keatley, Charlotte: - Charlotte Keatley is best-known for her play My Mother Said I Never Should, which has been named by the National Theatre as one of The Significant Plays of the Twentieth Century. More recently, Charlotte Keatley's play Our Father premiered at the Watford Palace Theatre. She has written for radio, television and film, and has won the George Devine Award, Manchester Evening News Best New Play Award, a Time Out Award, and was nominated for an Olivier Award as Most Promising Newcomer.
Megson, Chris: - Chris Megson is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has taught and published widely in the field of modern drama, and is editor of The Methuen Drama Book of Naturalist Plays. Other works include: Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present (with Alison Forsyth, 2011), and Modern British Playwriting: The 70s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations (2012).
Nichols, Matthew: - Matthew Nichols graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2003 and has been teaching and leading outstanding Drama and Performing Arts departments for over a decade. Matthew also has extensive experience at a senior level with several exam boards, and was responsible for writing one of the reformed GCSE qualifications in Drama. In addition, Matthew works with schools, colleges, universities and theatres across the country. Matthew is a successful and sought after Drama education consultant, and was one of the founders of Drama Defined, which specialises in delivering high quality Drama education courses to staff and students. Matthew is currently Head of Drama at Manchester Grammar School. You can reach him on Twitter @matthew_drama.
Stevens, Jenny: - Jenny Stevens was an Associate Lecturer for the Open University and currently combines educational consultancy work with teaching and writing. She is the co-author with Pamela Bickley of Essential Shakespeare: The Arden Guide to Text and Interpretation (2013) and Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama: Text and Performance (2016).
