The Cornish feminist icon marks two decades of being compared to Glastonbury’s Big Top

Actress, writer and activist Rebecca Mordan has shared her excitement ahead of her 20th year of performing at Glastonbury Festival as the only female compère in the Big Top.

Ms Mordan, who hails from renowned Cornish feminist production hub Scary Little Girls, is responsible for a host of successful productions including Queenagers and Duffy defeats the devil.

He started his journey as a volunteer in the Big Top offices at the age of 17.

Ms Mordan said: “My fantastic boss at Glasto, Jade Dunbar, saw something in me while I was working behind the scenes and said to me within a year, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re going to try some comparison shifts next year “.

“I was terrified… but she was adamant that I could do it – and that was 20 years ago!”

She will open the marquee this year, playing shows from around the world to crowds of over 3,000.

Cornwall’s cultural scene has also benefited from Ms Mordan’s association with Glastonbury.

The relationships it created, together with support from the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF), means that many Glastonbury artists have now appeared in Scary Little Girls productions in Cornwall.

Ms Mordan added: “Our SPF funding has enabled us to bring in some of these Glastonbury circus performers, including Annabelle Holland, now a fellow Big Top who brought her knife-throwing skills to Mayven, and Charlie Bicknell , who recently performed his Cabaret. with the Claws show in Falmouth and is an amazing aerialist, incorporating acro-balancing, music and comedy into her act.”

One of her goals is to inspire female performers in the circus space, offering her career as a beacon and example.

She continued: “I always tell (the girls) you have to take the mic.

“Your body can do amazing things, but only for so long – you can be funny forever.”

Ms Mordan will appear at Glastonbury Festival from 26-30 June 2024.

Her theater company, Scary Little Girls, has been awarded a £296,200 grant from the UK Government for artistic works until April 2025 as part of the Shared Prosperity Fund’s £4.4m investment in events cultural heritage of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.