A Child of Science
An Impossible Producing and Bristol Old Vic co-production. SUMMER 2024 Bristol Old Vic
Watch this space for news about this critically acclaimed production
Award winning Cornwall based writer Gareth Farr’s brilliant new play tells their pioneering story, and those of the army of women from all over the UK whose immense bravery helped them achieve the impossible – to create human life in vitro.
A Child of Science charts the incredible events that led to one of the most remarkable medical breakthroughs of our time: the birth of a baby girl and the creation of IVF, a procedure which has supported the birth of over 12 million babies worldwide over the last forty years.
Directed by the highly acclaimed West End director Matthew Dunster (Hangmen, 2:22 A Ghost Story, Shirley Valentine) and featuring the award-winning Tom Felton (Harry Potter), A Child of Science is about determination, dreams, hope, and courage. It’s a celebration of life.
Joining the previously revealed Tom Felton (2:22 A Ghost Story) will be Jamie Glover (Waterloo Road, What’s In A Name?) as Patrick Steptoe, Meg Bellamy (known for her appearance as Kate Middleton in the final season of The Crown, now making her professional stage debut) as embryologst Jean Purdy, Adelle Leonce (Fool Me Once, Emilia) as Margaret, one of the hundreds of anonymous women who assisted in the medical trials and Sonoya Mizuno (Devs, House of the Dragon) in roles including philanthropist Lillian Lincoln Howell and Sheena Steptoe.
The cast is completed by Saikat Ahamed (Life of Pi), Gruffudd Glyn (Joseph K and the Cost of Living), Bobby Hirston (The Play That Goes Wrong), Amy Loughton (Animal), Bebe Sanders (Twelfth Night) and Everal A Walsh (Rockets and Blue Lights ).
A Child of Science is an “ingeniously crafted” (★★★★★ The Times), “gripping” (★★★★ The Telegraph) and “powerful” (★★★★ WhatsOnStage) new play with the “urgency of a thriller” (★★★★ The Stage).
This production launched our ambition for The South West End - excellent, large scale, ambitious theatre productions led by Cornish talent and premiered in the South West. Gareth Farr is a Cornish based writer, Casting Director Matilda James and Associate Director Alix Harris and actor Adelle Leonce are from Cornwall.
