FALLEN WOMEN
Mrs. Hawking part VI
by Phoebe Roberts and Bernie Gabin

“London, 1888— Mrs. Hawking’s great rival may have been vanquished, but the struggle has left rifts in the once-close bond between our heroes. They find themselves alienated and in pain even as they must swing into action to take on the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper. Where once they were always there for one another, a new life path opening up for Mary, Nathaniel’s lingering trauma, and Mrs. Hawking’s pulling away from her chosen family threaten to shatter the team forever. Content notes: gunshots, mentioned spousal violence, mentioned violence against sex workers.”

Presented by the Watch City Steampunk Festival 2021
Saturday, May 8th at 2PM

Produced through a novel system of socially distanced filming
developed by Breaking Light Productions

CAST

MRS. VICTORIA HAWKING, lady’s society avenger – Cari Keebaugh
MISS MARY STONE, her housemaid and assistant – Circe Rowan
NATHANIEL HAWKING, her gentleman nephew – Christian Krenek
SGT. ARTHUR SWANN, Mary’s policeman beau – Matthew Kamm
MRS. CLARA HAWKING, Nathaniel’s society wife – Jackie Freyman
MRS. ELIZABETH FROST, a criminal mastermind – Arielle Kaplan
MISS MARY JANE KELLY, a London prostitute – Sara Dion
MISS VIOLET STRALLAN, a London nurse – Elizabeth Ross
ROLAND DAVIES, once Mrs. Frost’s man – Andrew Prentice
A DISTINGUISHED MATRON, in widow’s weeds – Jennifer Benfield
THE RIPPER, the Whitechapel murderer – Pieter Wallace
MISS MALAIKA SHAH, a specter of the past – Naomi Ibatsitas
ENSEMBLE – John Benfield

CREW

Director, Production Designer – Phoebe Roberts
Editor, Technical Director – Bernie Gabin
Sound Designer – Neil Marsh, Cari Keebaugh
Costume Designer – Jennifer Benfield
Stage Manager – Cari Keebaugh
Poster Designer – S.K. Artistry

The Mrs. Hawking story so far…

When her housemaid Mary Stone and her nephew Nathaniel Hawking discovered her work as a superhero standing up for the women of London, Mrs. Victoria Hawking found that try as she might to keep them out, they were not about to let her go it alone. It’s taken time, but with effort they have made a place in her life as her assistants, forming not just a superhero team but also a kind of family. 

But the foundations of the life they’ve built were shaken by the emergence of Mrs. Elizabeth Frost, once Mrs. Hawking’s childhood governess, who remade herself into the mastermind of a criminal empire spanning across London. Bringing her to some kind of justice– committing her to a mental institution against her will –came at a heavy cost to our heroes. Nathaniel spent a week in brutal captivity in Frost’s lair. Mary shook the trust Mrs. Hawking had in her with the reveal of her relationship with Sgt. Arthur Swann. Mrs. Hawking herself lost her one remaining old friend from her past, their connection broken forever. And still they carry the guilt of the lengths they were forced to in order to put a stop to Frost’s enterprise. 

About Fallen Women 

 Years ago, when we imagining all the places Mrs. Hawking might go, and we mused that somebody it’d be fun to take on Jack the Ripper. It’s hard to believe, six installments later, we’re finally here. 

The legend of this famous unidentified serial killer looms large, and it’s really perfect subject matter for our story. An unsolved mystery dealing with a murderer who preyed on the most disenfranchised members of Victorian society, the very sort of thing Mrs. Hawking stands for taking on. We did a great deal of research in composing this, in order to maintain the facts of the case where scholarship identified them, inventing only on those points that were lost to history. But we were less interested in solving a mystery than in changing the focus of the traditional Ripper narrative. How could such a person just slip unknown through society committing such acts? Why were these women so vulnerable to a predator like this? And who were they, whom we all know of as victims but perhaps not anything else about them?  

Mrs. Hawking has always been a story about women making their way through a difficult social order. This is our effort not just to present the exceptional ones who have always been our heroes, but also the ordinary ones, even the abject ones. Their struggle deserves to be acknowledged, their stories remembered.  

As Mary Jane Kelly says, “They had names, you know. Don’t forget.” 

Special Thanks

Melissa Honig
Chris Cebelenski
Kate Potter
Jason Schneiderman
Jason Tilton

See more Mrs. Hawking

The first Hawking spinoff comedy

GENTLEMEN NEVER TELL
Debuting Saturday, May 8th at 11:30AM

Follow the story of Mrs. Hawking  

On the web: www.mrshawking.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ladyschampionoflondon
On Instagram: @mrshawkingweb
On TV Tropes: Mrs Hawking (Theatre) 

This has been a Breaking Light Production