Heroic campaigner celebrated in new audio musical
Josey - The Indignant Daughter is a new audio musical inspired by Josephine Butler.
A theatrical piece combining music and narrative storytelling, written by singer-songwriter Katie Doherty, featuring a community choir of women from across Northumberland.
Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was an English feminist and social reformer with a particular concern for women’s rights in British law. In 1886 she successfully repealed the Contagious Diseases Act, legislation which had an impact on the dignity of women and internal examinations.
Now Josephine Butler’s story will be at the centre of a new audio musical. The work will be available on all streaming sites including Anchor FM, free via: https://anchor.fm/josey-themusical .
Josey, The Indignant Daughter is written by award-winning singer-songwriter Katie Doherty, following a series of workshops, with women of all ages across Northumberland to discuss women’s rights and activism today. Informed by the workshops, Katie has created a brand-new dramatic piece of work. The piece explores how prominent women like Josephine Butler have been written out of history and how the campaigns they led are still relevant. Focusing on themes of where we are in terms of Gender Equality and Female Activism and where we could be.
The audio piece features a community choir of women from across Northumberland as well as voices from young women from local schools, Cramlington Learning Village and Duke’s Academy in Ashington.
Katie Doherty said, “We couldn’t not tell the story of Josephine Butler. When I began talking to other women about her, it became apparent that her incredible story has been forgotten in its detail and impact. Discussing the weight of her achievements, given the time that she was living when it was highly unusual to see a woman speaking in public as she did.
“Josephine Butler is utterly inspiring as a woman. The causes she fought for are still being fought for today. The adversity female activists face in today's world is different, but it is in many ways harder to speak out, to carry on, to raise your voice as a woman in a culture where everything is instantly amplified through the media.
“I'd like listeners to come away with questions, I'd like them to feel something, to be moved, to look at their own lives, to think about the future and to think about how we as a culture support Female Activism and the importance of it. I'd like them to take away the hope too. In effect Josey's story is about us too.”
“It’s been fascinating being involved in a project from such an early stage- from exchanging thoughts and ideas to seeing how these have been developed by Katie and turned into something so powerful and yet so beautiful. Katie has this incredible ability to do that - the beauty of her sound that encapsulates femininity along with the power and energy common to female trailblazers. Josephine Butler‘s place in history needs to be acknowledged and celebrated. Reflecting on her life encourages us to review how much has changed, and more importantly in some ways not changed, for women today. Her story needs to be told and I feel proud to be a very small part of this incredible project. ”
The musical is an innovative example of how it is possible to create new digitally-focused cultural work within areas of the UK that are typically ‘digitally deprived’. While November Club has a history of producing live musical work, Joset marks the first time that it will produce a ‘Digital Audio Musical’ in recognition of the potential of digital distribution to reach new audiences.
The production is being created with digital support agency The Space, whose Executive Producer Harmeet Chagger-Khan, is mentoring and supporting the November Club team throughout production and delivery of its work. Harmeet Chagger-Khan said, “Retelling stories of the past so that we can think about the present and imagine the future is vitally important. To see November Club working to create a digital musical is refreshing as it brings crucial issues of activism and gender equality to a younger audience, which accesses content digitally. When The Space commissions organisations, we always want to know what skills they will gain by working digitally. November Club excels at working with rural community choirs and professional musicians and composers, to tell their stories. Now we are excited to be helping to bring their work to a new format and, hopefully, a wider audience."
Joe Hufton, Artistic Director of November Club, said, “One of the recurring questions in my mind is that if Josephine Buter were alive today, who would she be? There are so many contemporary issues – some not wholly different from those that concerned Josephine nearly 200 years ago – that women are passionate about and motivated to change in much the same way as Josephine Butler. We are determined to take their issues and tell Josephine’s story through a modern lens, reflecting the concerns of women in the UK today. The arts are vital to rural communities, and we are excited to be employing a new method of creating work with them. The workshops have seen lively discussions of female activism around issues of double standards and injustice today within an environment where people feel confident to speak and raise subjects that concern them.”
November Club is an award-winning, multi-artform performing arts company based in Northumberland. Working in unconventional places, regionally and nationally, they tell unexpected theatrical stories which weave together historical and contemporary themes. Each production is made in collaboration with local people, with the aim of bringing communities together, to create memorable shared experiences.
Community involvement is at the heart of this and each November Club project. Stories and ideas come from delving into archives, seeking people from different backgrounds to contribute to the project and often to take their place in the final performance alongside professional artists and musicians.
The digital venture will lead to a full touring version of the musical in 2024.
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Image: Creative team for Josey, L-R, Katie Doherty, Joe Hufton, Lizzie Vogler, Kathryn Row, Andrea Perrett and Louise Taylor-Asheg.
Production Credits, Josey – The Indignant Daughter
Writer and Composer: Katie Doherty
Sound Designer: Matthew Tuckey Additional sound design, mixing and mastering: Andrew Cadie
Director: Joe Hufton
Dramaturge: Maria Crocker
Sound Engineer: Adam Forster
Producer: Lizzie Vogler
Acors: Michael Blair and Karen Traynor
Young Girl: Betsy Sutton
Piano, lead vocals and prepared piano: Katie Doherty
Bass Synth: Andrew Cadie
Drums and prepared piano: Adam Forster
Voices: Young people from Cramlington Learning Village and Duke’s Academy, Ashington
Further voices from Stagecoach North Tyneside and members of the choir and their friends and families.
Business and Operations Director: Andrea Perrett
Marketing and Audience Development: Kathryn Row
Participation Producer: Louise Taylor-Asheg