Fossil Mary

“ . . these learned men have sucked my brains . ." Mary Anning

Meet Mary Anning, pioneering palaeontologist and the world’s greatest fossil hunter ! 

Born in 1799 in Lyme Regis on Dorset’s Jurassic coast and known as ‘the lightning girl’ after surviving a lightning strike as a baby, Mary found her first marine reptile fossil aged 12. Her incredible discoveries revolutionised theories of evolution but because she was a poor, working class spinster she was spurned and patronised by the men of science who took the credit for her extraordinary work. However, she is now recognised as one of the 10 most influential female scientists and her finds, now attributed to her, can be seen in museums around the world. She’s even made it to Mars ! NASA named one of their drilling sites after her as, like Mary, it revealed details of an ancient environment.

Ignored in her time, celebrated in ours, this new play finally gives Mary the spotlight she deserves !