Mary Astell has been billed as Newcastle’s first feminist, but what happens when she meets Virginia Woolf in the afterlife? The Live Theatre has answers.

Shelagh Stephenson has penned some of the most lauded plays of the last thirty years or so (including ‘The Memory of Water’, which was made into the film ‘Before You Go’ starring Julie Walters) and her latest ‘Astell and Woolf’ is having its world premiere at the Live Theatre this May. It sees the pioneering feminist, and Newcastle-born, Mary Astell meeting Virginia Woolf in the afterlife. Sparks fly but this is a riotous piece packed with big ideas and big laughs. It’s also a joyful stoking of the feminist fire and sees a welcome spotlight shone on Astell who, perhaps, hasn’t had her due.

Astell & Woolf, 14 May-6 June, Live Theatre, Newcastle, 7.30pm (plus some matinees), from £17, live.org.uk