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A playful and thought-provoking look at a medieval woman’s experience of religion and sexuality, with a jolly soundtrack of ‘bardcore’ tunes to distract from the looming threat of the 1348 Black Death.

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Content Note: This play includes strong language, fake blood, and scenes of sexual assault and miscarriage. Some spoilers below.

In Jewels, writer and performer Tanwen Stokes brings a fresh, fun, and lovingly irreverent story of mediaeval womanhood onto the stage. This one-woman show weaves together figures and themes from 14th-century English history to produce ‘Jewels,’ a sex worker living through the Black Death in 1348. Inspired by figures like Julian of Norwich, who wrote the earliest known book by a woman in English, we see Jewels attempt to escape the plague by securing a position as an anchorite nun–‘anchoresses’ like Julian of Norwich devoted their lives to Christ in complete and permanent isolation.

This one-act show traces the highs and lows of Jewels’s first days of isolation in her cell, as her only connection to the outside world is the daily visit of the handmaiden assigned to bring her sacramental wine and sewing projects–Sister Agnes. As her caretaker has been sworn to silence (to protect her from Jewels’s “forked tongue”), Agnes only communicates through knocking, the occasional hummed melody, and a daily note slipped into Jewels’s basket. This focus on a few crucial days adds a rhythm to the narrative that drives the story forward with the daily cycle of deliveries and church bells, and the conversational structure between Jewels and the semi-silent Agnes adds a lot of dimension to the piece. Agnes also relays periodic complaints from people visiting the surrounding cemetery, who are often offended by Jewels’s singing and rather loud blasphemy–this helps bring the world around her small cell to life. All the while, Jewels is awaiting rescue from a man whom she–somewhat accidentally–allowed herself to truly fall for.

Stokes also looks closely at the erotic nature of many mediaeval women’s relationship with Jesus, particularly as nuns were considered to be married to Christ. In a world where women were vilified as temptresses for expressing any sexual desire and sex workers were blamed for spreading both sin and disease (and indeed, for bringing the plague as a punishment for their sins), Jewels challenges the idea that God wanted humans to live a life of self-denial in order to reach some promised heavenly reward. If this is true, she asks, why does it feel so good to dance and sing and kiss each other? She quotes some of the most erotic passages in the Bible to Agnes, and wonders why she’s been locked in a room with a hunky, nearly-nude Jesus on a crucifix as her only companion. She also points out the deep hypocrisy (which was actually perpetuated for centuries before and after this play’s setting) of the Bishop of Winchester condemning sex workers while profiting off their taxes in the brothels that he ran and even visiting them himself.

James MacManus’s music thrums along throughout the show, combining original compositions with covers of traditional English tunes and a fun infusion of ‘bardcore’ hits like “Nuns Just Wanna Have Fun.” Stokes brings an energetic physicality to the role that melds well with direction and choreography from Miriam Botzenhardt, whether she’s testing out improbable prayer positions, bopping around her cell, or letting loose in a joyfully uninhibited dance at Bartholomew Fair. With excellent comic timing, Stokes is likeable and engaging from the moment she opens her eyes to look boldly around her new home.

The show’s lighter moments are balanced out by vivid and visceral explorations of mediaeval theology, sexuality, and what it means to embrace life in the midst of an unthinkable epidemic. With a background in medieval literature, Stokes has written a show which is strongly rooted in historical context, while bringing a healthy dose of playfulness to the sources; this is a promising playwriting debut. While those without this background may not recognise every term or reference, many of the questions Jewels asks are just as relevant today as they were nearly 700 years ago, and in 2024 it is especially poignant to look at the toll that isolation takes, even when it’s a necessary protective measure. Jewels grabs life in both hands with every chance she gets, and reminds us that the desire for connection, both physical and emotional, is incredibly human.

Jewels has run from July 16-17 at the Canal Cafe Theatre in Little Venice, and will run August 8-11 and 13-14 at the Edinburgh Fringe.