The Peaceful Crystallographer – and other Songs
6.30pm – 8.30pm
Thursday 15th October
Bloomsbury Festival 2026
CONWAY HALL
25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL
Tickets from £8 – £22
Book NOW
Here at Electric Voice Theatre we’ve been very impatient to share what we’ve been doing to bring you a truly joyful celebration of Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903–1971). Now we can! Thanks to the Bloomsbury Festival and Conway Hall finally launching their programmes for October. Which means you can book your tickets too!
So – firstly, Kathleen Lonsdale, The Peaceful Crystallographer. Who was she?
Well having spent the summer trawling her archives at UCL, Royal Hollway College and the Royal Society I can tell you that it would be impossible to explain in a few sentences. Instead do watch the video below that we made for International Women’s Day earlier this year with women scientists from UCL, they have a lot to say about her!
Why?
Kathleen Lonsdale was the first woman to be appointed as a professor at UCL (see video below) and also the first female Fellow of the Royal Society (see video below).
That’s not all – think pioneering scientist, prison reformer, women’s rights activist and pacifist… I could go on…..
Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903–1971)
Image with the kind permission of Stephen Lonsdale
provided by The Royal Society
We are so excited to announce that we are being joined by some wonderful young acappella singers from University College London who call themselves UC8 and a group of singers from the exceptional Clerkenwell Community Choir.
Together, we are planning to perform a range of music reflecting Lonsdale’s eclectic life and introducing some long forgotten women composers whose work we think you will find compelling, sometimes funny and always engaging.
There is an Irish folk song set by Shena Fraser (1910 – 1993); a rather silly music hall song by an intriguing figure – Maud Santley (before 1889 – 1952) who was both a well known opera singer and music hall artiste; works by Judith Weir, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Frances M Lynch; anit-war songs by Lonsdale’s contemporaries like Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 – 1994) and Clara Novello Davies (1861-1943) and ethical hymns and anthems from Conway Hall’s radical thinkers, Eliza Flower (1803 – 1846) and Josephine Troup (1853-1913).
In addition to the singers we have some special guests for our post-show discussion, including science historian Dr Patricia Fara and Zoë Waller, Professor of Drug Discovery, Pharma & Bio Chemistry at University College London.
The Peaceful Crystallographer, International Women’s Day 2026
Video filmed at Conway Hall with Dr. Patricia Fara, artist Bryony Marshall, and women scientists from UCL
Faces of UCL: Kathleen Lonsdale, first female Professor at UCL
The ethical science of Kathleen Lonsdale | The Royal Society
