'Clara' is a TV drama pilot, which premiered at the Mechanics’ Theatre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. It tells the story of an iconic figure who lived in 1850s Wakefield. Clara Clarkson was a suffragist, an abolitionist and a lover and protector of women in the Merrie City.
Clara struggles to balance her relationship with companion Harriet and what is expected from her in Victorian society, dodging the charms of doting widower Henry and the vehement disapproval of her mother Sarah.
Clara and her friends defied social convention, living openly as part of a nurturing Queer community localised around the Wakefield Unitarian Chapel.
Wakefield’s ‘great and good’, fearing scandal if secrets came to light, petitioned to have Clara’s journals destroyed. Out of a total of 40 only 4 survived, which were de-coded and re written in the book ‘Merrie Wakefield’ by Ann Jacques, a distant relative. Now, 130 years after Clara’s death, her voice endures and her story will be told.
Executive Producer: Sarah Cobham
Producer: Emma Wise
Director: Anastasia Arsentyeva
Director of Photography: Seán Mackey
Starring: Emma Wise, David Griffin, Lois Naylor, Rita May, Meg Mundy and Joe Marsden
