Guest Blog: Lizzie Milton On Women's History and 10 at VAULT Festival

I have to confess, I hadn't taken much interest in history until very recently. It all seemed like a lot of boring wars, dates and monarchs, and while I knew it was very important to "remember your history", I couldn't quite figure out why.

After my GCSE teacher tried to convince me that the British populous wasn't prejudiced towards Irish immigrants during the Troubles, I had pretty much lost all faith I had in the subject altogether.

Last year, my friend (and performer in 10) Beth Eyre recommended Jenni Murray's A History of Britain in 21 Women. I devoured the book in a week and followed it up with The Women Who Buil Bristol: 1184-2014 and The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes.

Suddenly, my relationship with history had changed. Here were women I recognised, either in myself or others I knew. These books confirmed my suspicions: queer women had existed before the 20th century. Working-class women had achieved more than contract cholera and die during childbirth. Women of colour had names other than slave.

This ongoing narrative that it is only rich white men who get stuff done, with the occasional contribution from a rich white female (cough, Elizabeth I, cough) is not evidently false, it is harmful. It propagates the myth that if you do not hold status or power, you cannot be a mover or shaker; you are merely at the whim of those above you.

Throughout history, women have both moved and shaken. They have carved out their own destinies. They have rioted.

It's important that we hear the stories of these women, not just because these incredible figures deserve to have their stories told, but to also offer a lifeline in this time of political and social discord. We can easily feel cast adrift and out of luck, but the echoes of these women offer a rallying cry: we will persist.

This was the reason I wrote 10. I am a playwright and not a historian, so I used the tools at my disposal: the ability to tell a story dramatically. 10 tells the history of Britain from medieval times to the present day, with one important difference: we're only telling women's side of the story.

Women like Aethelflaed: the first queen in England, who ruled Mercia single-handedly. Women like Brenda Procter: a lifelong political activist who was first politicised by the miners' strike. Women like Mary Seacole: a black nurse during the Crimean War, who only now is starting to get the recognition she deserves. We need a historical narrative that is richer and more diverse than the one we have currently.

I am clearly not the only writer feeling this push, as evidenced by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's incredible Emilia, which is about to transfer to the West End.

There's also a host of other plays on at Vault Festival exploring women's history, including Pareidola Theatre's Woman! Pilot! Pirate?, about Amelia Earheart; Out Of The Forest Theatre's Call Me Fury, about the witch trials; and Rascal Theatre's Galvanise, celebrating female history and modern-day friendship.

Let's hope, by looking at our past, we can find our way to a more empowered future.

Produced by Snatchback in association with Joyous Gard, 10 will play at VAULT Festival 13-17 March

Photo credit: Ali Wright

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