Fanny and Stella

April 1870: Fanny and Stella were no ordinary Victorian women. They were in fact young men who liked to dress as women: Frederick Park and Ernest Boulton. Stella was the most beautiful female impersonator of her day, Fanny her inseparable companion. But the Metropolitan Police were secretly plotting their downfall. They were arrested and subjected to a sensational show trial in Westminster Hall where every last, lascivious detail of their lives was lapped up by an incredulous public.

With a cast of peers and politicians, detectives and drag queens Fanny and Stella were at the epicentre of a dazzling and enthralling Victorian peepshow.
The connection with the cemetery is that Alfred Swaine Taylor, the celebrated forensic scientist who is buried in the West Cemetery, was employed as an expert witness and called upon to examine the two young men. His handwritten notes still exist.

Neil McKenna is a journalist and author of the bestselling The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde.

Starts at 7.30. Doors open 7.00. Latecomers will not be admitted. Ticket includes a glass of wine.