Greenwich Theatre’s national reputation for supporting emerging theatre groups is helping to create a new play based on the lives of three generations of real women who have grown up in Brighton, Leeds and London over the last 100 years.

The theatre is acting as mentor to the award-winning Broken Leg Theatre company that delights in talking to people at home, in pubs and on buses - and finding out what makes them tick.

‘Three Generations of Women’ is the working title of the play being produced by Broken Leg directors and co-writers Anna Jefferson and Alice Trueman, and, as ever, a Greenwich Theatre audience will be the first to enjoy it at a showcase reading this September.

The women interviewed will also be invited to see the work in progress. “We’re exploring the challenges facing women today as compared to their mothers and grandmothers,” said Anna, whose ‘My Second Life’ was part of Greenwich Theatre’s Emerging Arts Festival in 2012.

“We’ve already met a wide range of women at forums, the oldest 102. So far it’s very interesting that experiences are quite similar but in a different guise. Some are very humorous and some very moving, even traumatic. Different themes are developing and research will go on well into 2014 – including contributions from our new website, www.threegenerationsofwomen.co.uk and then we’ll start writing the play.

“You have to be very respectful of people’s stories and recollections and be careful not to make assumptions. One thing that stood out was how inspired so many women have been by their grandmothers, many of whom were taken out of school at 14 to help look after huge families and some going back into higher education.

“For us it’s a fantastic opportunity to work with such a brilliant theatre as Greenwich. It’s a very special place in the way it supports emerging companies. They helped us get Arts Council funding and we’ve already had one mentoring session with director James Haddrell that went very well.”

James said: “Broken Leg Theatre is one of 20 companies and artists from around the country that we support from our base in Greenwich, enabling us to have a major impact on the national theatre scene while bringing some of the UK’s most exciting young theatre makers to share their work with our audiences in SE London.

“Some of our supported companies have already developed their work sufficiently to perform on tour, in the West End, in Madrid and in New York, and I have no doubt that Broken Leg Theatre are on a similar journey.”

Any women interested in making a contribution to Three Generations of Woman are welcome to do so through the website www.threegenerationsofwomen.co.uk. Or by calling Anna on 07977 478 765.