Elizabeth Southerden Thompson’s 1874 painting The Roll Call was a sensation in its day. People queued for hours to see her depiction of a line of wounded and fatigued soldiers during the Crimean war. The demand to see it was such that a police officer was deployed to hold back the crowds.
Yet, despite her talent and fame, Thompson was not elected to the prestigious Royal Academy – she lost out by two votes – and her name is not well enough known today. Playwright Ellen Brammar first heard of her via Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast and was immediately intrigued by her story. The artist is the subject of Brammar’s new play, Modest, a co-production between Hull gig-theatre specialists Middle Child and the queer-led theatre company Milk Presents.
