Academic leads sell out event at Storyhouse Women Festival

The event, How to Be a F*cking Lady, brought together humour, history and hard‑hitting social commentary in a provocative and honest conversation about the term ‘lady’, the global inequalities still facing women and girls and the continuing importance of feminist movements today.

Dr Llewellyn was joined by two guest panellists: Cicely Wright, a theatre maker, playwright, queer, disabled and neurodivergent early‑career artist, and facilitator for Creative Communities at Storyhouse. Cicely shared personal reflections on gender identity, creative practice and feminist activism and Seeta Wrightson, stand‑up comic and writer, BBC Comedy Female Pilot Club 2025 winner, BBC New Comedy Awards finalist and workshop leader at Theatre in the Mill in Bradford for women, global majority and non‑binary performers. Seeta discussed her comedy career, the influence of gender, class, and race on her work and the barriers faced by minoritised voices in the comedy industry.

The interactive event encouraged audience participation throughout. Attendees shared stories of everyday sexism and misogyny, debated the politics of Bridgerton, and reflected on what feminism means in contemporary society. The atmosphere was described as both joyful and deeply reflective, with moments ranging from moving to laugh‑out‑loud funny.

Storyhouse Women has run annually since the venue opened and is organised by Nicola Haigh, Storyhouse Communities Project Manager and Dr Dawn Llewellyn has been involved since the festival’s inception.

This year’s programme also featured From Lioncubs to Lionesses: How to Tackle Misogyny in Sports, with contributions from Professor Moira Lafferty, Head of the School of Society at the University of Chester, and Stacey Copeland, Commonwealth boxing gold medallist and BBC Manchester presenter. The festival concluded with a comedy night hosted by Lulu Simmons, founder of the Token Comedy Collective.

Dawn said: “It was such a vibrant, inspiring, and funny event! The panellists and audience members were eager to share their experiences and we left energised and hopeful. I’d like to think that we dismantled a bit of the patriarchy together, as activism and change often start with hearing and listening to others and finding connection and solidarity.”

Nicola Haigh added: “The event was a huge success and amazing to sell out! There were serious, moving and laugh‑out‑loud moments. It was brilliant to have the panellists and audience members engage and interact together and to hear a range of feminist perspectives calling out sexism.”

Caption: Left to right: Seeta, Cicely and Dawn.