“Fire Brigade: Stand By To Raise!”
Watch our 15 minute showcase, filmed at Birmingham Hippodrome and featuring Elexi Walker, Courtney Stapleton, Elena Pitsiaeli, Maddison Bulleyment and Rosie Coles with MD Alex Beetschen:
The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade is an upbeat ensemble musical, following the world of British physicist and inventor Hertha Ayrton and four of her contemporaries at 1880s Girton College, Cambridge: mathematician Charlotte Scott, astronomer Annie Maunder, chemist Ida Freund and botanist Ethel Sargant.
After starting a fire brigade to protect themselves, this unlikely crew end up fighting more than fires in a battle for equality that lasts way beyond their student years.
See songs from the show performed live!
We’re posting updates on our writing process, clips of songs and news from the rehearsal room over on Instagram and Facebook. Follow us for all the latest news!
- MAY
Sunday 10th May 2026 — LINCOLN — Two sharings of a workshop version of the show, created with University of Lincoln musical theatre students. 2pm and 7pm at Lincoln Arts Centre (tickets here). - Sunday 24th May 2026 — LONDON — Leading Voices LDN will be singing “The Time Is Now” in their summer concert, 2pm and 5pm, Union Theatre (tickets here).
JUNE - Saturday 6th June, 2026 — CHELTENHAM SCIENCE FESTIVAL — Free family science singalong workshop at 10am (details here – just turn up!) Supported by Institute of Physics (IOP).
- Saturday 6th June 2026 — CHELTENHAM SCIENCE FESTIVAL — Free concert performance of the show at 12.30pm (details here – just turn up!)
- Sunday 7th June 2026 — LONDON — Free concert performances at 2.15pm and 4.30pm at Great Exhibition Road Festival, South Kensington (details & registration here). Hosted by Imperial College London on the Family Stage in Kensington Gardens.
- Saturday 20th June, 2026 — OXFORDSHIRE — Free family science singalong workshops at 10am and 12pm as part of GAP Festival, Goring & Streatley (book free tickets here). Supported by IOP.
- Saturday 20th June, 2026 — OXFORDSHIRE — Concert performance of the show at 5.15pm, hosted by Goring Fire Station as part of GAP Festival (tickets here).
JULY - Sunday 26th July 2026 — LINCOLN — Free family science singalong workshops and concert performance, supported by IOP.
SEPTEMBER - September 2026 — SOUTHAMPTON — Free concert performance of the show, Southampton, time and date TBC.
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Watch Noa Sorele as Hertha Ayrton singing “Time To See This Through” at new material cabaret night “JEWSicals”, Arts Depot London, with Toby Lord on piano.
What’s this show about?
Driven by her guilt at leaving the seven siblings she cared for like a mother, Hertha starts her studies as a well-behaved, gifted student. Struggling to live up to the sacrifices her family made and the challenges of male-dominated Cambridge – when she won’t even receive a proper degree for her studies – the pressure soon becomes unbearable.
But when fire threatens Girton, Hertha can’t stay hidden behind her textbooks and must take action to keep her new friends safe. Against all odds, she recruits her friends to create first ever all-female Fire Brigade. This intrepid band of unlikely firefighters resolve to put out fires wherever they find them – and they find plenty.
Before long, Hertha and her crew realise that they’re part of a bigger battle: for the right to earn a degree, the right to work as a scientist, and the right to vote.
So, instead of putting out fires, maybe it’s time to start a few instead…?
The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade is a powerful, passionate tale of how positive change can happen, how everyone can make their mark on society – and how we’re not finished yet.
Watch Lydia Shaw sing “What We Deserve” at Southampton Stage Door “Showtime” with Teddy Clements on piano and Jonathan Ferguson on drums.
The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade 