Jina and the STEM Sisters
I want to discover everything…
These questions burn inside of me
And now they’ve broken free
The most recent of HMDT Music’s commissions, STEM Sisters celebrates the achievements, discoveries and stories of diverse historical female mathematicians and scientists. It aims to inspire young people, especially girls to engage with and hopefully pursue an interest in STEM which is still under-represented by women and diversity, and use the arts to show how innovative, creative learning can transform lives.
Jina and the STEM Sisters, a multi-media musical puppet show for schools and families, was created based on the discoveries and stories of historical STEM women who fought against the odds to pursue their flair for scientific enquiry but were often unacknowledged for their discoveries and frequently encountered discrimination and prejudice along the way. In line with this, the creative, artistic, performance, scientific and production teams were all female. Jina and the STEM Sisters was first filmed and made available online in 2021 due to COVID-19. In 2022 it toured to Millfields Theatre Enfield; Mitchell Arts Centre, Stoke on Trent; Snape Maltings, Suffolk; Little Angel Theatre, Islington; Pegasus Theatre, Oxford; Norwich Puppet Theatre; The egg, Theatre Royal Bath; Arts Depot, London; Crucible Studio, Sheffield and Minerva Theatre; Chichester to audiences of over 6500 families and 77 schools.
STEM Sisters was supported by two workshops: X-raying materials with crystallographers Rosalind Franklin, Kathleen Lonsdale and Dorothy Hodgkin and Exploring the world of fossils with palaeontologist Mary Anning to life through hands-on activities and engaging storytelling, alongside a bank of online resources tailored to the school curriculum, which are available in our STEM Sisters Education Zone.
To arrange a Mary Anning workshop for K1 or KS2 in time for British Science Week 2026 (6th-15th March), click here.
Photos: Clive Barda and Abby Swain
“Jina and the STEM Sisters enchanted us with ingeniously presented puppetry…there is never a dull moment… This is an intelligent and entrancing entertainment… A gift that is very evident here is that of creativity; the show looks simply gorgeous throughout… Most definitely worth seeing… entertainment that encourages you to reserve your right to think.”
“The children were memorised by the whole performance, their faces were a picture! When we arrived back to school one of the children said, ‘I think I am like Jina, I like asking questions and now I know I can keep asking more.’”
“It will encourage my class children (especially girls) to venture into science. The children will go away and research some of these women in their own time. They themselves want to be important people and it has helped set their aspirations high.”
“This is an incredibly important topic, with women massively underrepresented in the field today, so it is great to see it introduced to our younger generation in such an accessible format, with an assortment of musical styles and songs to catch the imagination”
“What mattered most was the unselfconscious eagerness shown by every amateur singer or player, tiny child or senior citizen. ”
“An easily digestible show about history-defining women that will hopefully inspire a new generation of scientifically curious, patriarchy-defying young women”
“It should be noted that Jina’s creative and performance team is entirely female. [Composer Jenny Gould and writer Rachel Barnett-Jones] working with the show’s creative director, Tertia Sefton-Green, were clearly the right collaborators for this work, which seems entirely accessible for young people and never, in any instance, dumbed down.”
“Jina and The STEM Sisters seeks not solely to promote creativity in an education setting but opens arms to young girls, advocating them to be courageous in the face of oppression, be proud in the curiosity they demonstrate and be weird, be clever, and driven to explore the world. And perhaps, more than anything, remember the path forged for young women by those who stood against the suited face of patriarchal adversary. ”
“STEM Sisters has deepened our knowledge of lesser-known women in STEM and the children involved (especially the girls) enjoyed learning about these incredible women. It is great to hear them talking about the achievements of these women and how they identify with or look up to some of them now. ”
“The lesson resources are very well produced and we will be using them on an ongoing basis. It’s really good to have a new approach to learning and linking the science curriculum to women the children can engage with, is quite inspiring and empowering. ”
“The workshop was amazing! The children gained so much knowledge about their new topic – palaeontology. It has really inspired some of our girls who had little interest in the topic before”
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Jina and The STEM Sisters
Rachel Barnett-Jones
Writer
Jenny Gould
Composer and Music Director
Clare Whistler
Director
Sophia Lovell Smith
Designer
Ruth Calkin
Puppeteer/Actor
Nix Wood
Puppeteer/Actor
Nadine Benjamin
Voice of Mae Jemison and Hedy Lamarr
Eloise Eisenberg
Voice of Jina
Jessica Gillingwater
Voice of Maria Sybilla Merian and Wang Zhenyi
Abigail Kelly
Voice of Caroline Herschel
Susan Moore
Voice of Marie Curie
Sarah Brinkley
Clarinet, Flute, Sax
Lauren Kosty
Percussion
Joana Ly
Violin
Molly McWhirter
Cello
Jo Nichols
Bass
I Can Sing!
Children’s Chorus
EXPLORE MORE ON THE STEM SISTERS WEB PAGES: