Actor’s comments came as she accepted a lifetime achievement award for women in the arts
Kristin Scott Thomas has accused male theatre critics of failing to understand plays written by women and about women.
Citing her monologue on menstruation in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, she said the speech had “ripped through the internet”, proving the appetite for female stories told on their own terms.
“Where would I be without women playwrights?” she said while accepting the inaugural leading light award at the Women’s prize for playwriting ceremony in London, a new honour recognising lifetime achievement by women in the arts. “To be honest, absolutely nowhere.”
Scott Thomas referred to her recent stage role in Penelope Skinner’s Lyonesse, which ran at the Harold Pinter theatre in 2023. The play, which explored ambition, motherhood and sexual violence, drew strong audiences but divided critics.
