Out of all the people working in technology in the UK today, only 14% of them are women. This stark metric represents a critical imbalance across the modern workforce. Despite decades of discourse around diversity, equity, and inclusion, the reality remains troubling: there are actually fewer women working in technology today than there were 20 years ago.
While computing, systems engineering, software design, and digital innovation have expanded into nearly every industry, women remain significantly underrepresented in tech roles, development teams, boardrooms, and research labs.
This systemic decline stems from several historical and social factors:
The Erosion of Historical Visibility: Early computing history—which was heavily shaped by women programmers, operators, and mathematicians—was systematically reframed around male hardware designers and business leaders during the late 20th century.
Early Educational Divergence: Young girls are often steered away from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields during critical primary and secondary school years due to implicit bias and a lack of visible female role models.
Cultural Tropes in Tech: Popular media frequently portrays technology professionals as isolated, male figures, reinforcing outdated stereotypes about who "belongs" in the digital space.
To reverse this downward trend, society must intervene early. We must provide young people with stories, artistic representations, and tangible experiences that break these stereotypes before they take root.
ADA.ADA.ADA. is an immersive, interactive one-woman show that tells the remarkable story of the world's first computer programmer: Ada Lovelace. Created and performed by tech-storyteller Zoe Philpott, the production bridges performance art, theatrical storytelling, digital craftsmanship, and live science communication. Putting the Art in STEM, creating STEAM.
The performance brings Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852), directly into the 21st century. The show illustrates her groundbreaking work on Charles Babbage’s mechanical, general-purpose computer—the Analytical Engine.
Rather than relying on traditional historical re-enactment, ADA.ADA.ADA. uses modern physical computing and wearable technology to mirror Ada Lovelace's mathematical genius:
The LED Dress: The center of the performance is a custom-engineered, wearable dress embedded with over 4,400 individually addressable LEDs. The dress is operated live using open-source hardware and software.
Physical Computing as Metaphor: Through a complex network of physical string, woven threads, and real-time light animations, the performance visually translates abstract computer science concepts—such as algorithms, conditional branching, loops, and data weaving—into an accessible visual language.
By using physical textiles and light to explain mechanical computing, the show directly honours Ada Lovelace’s famous insight: "The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves."
A primary goal of ADA.ADA.ADA. is democratization. The production team works to make high-calibre science theater accessible to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic background, geography, or prior exposure to computer science.
To reach diverse audiences across the UK and internationally, the production collaborates with key educational and civic partners:
The Library Task Force: Partnering directly with local library networks to host performances in civic spaces, public libraries, community hubs, and neighborhood branches.
Worldwide Educational Agencies: Coordinating with educational organizations, international science festivals, tech conferences, and cultural institutions around the world to export the show's message.
Ada’s Army Team: A dedicated worldwide network of volunteers, educators, technologists, advocates, and sponsors who help fund, organize, promote, and stage the show across local communities.
By taking the performance directly into public libraries—the heart of local learning and civic access—the tour reaches children, families, and adult learners who might never otherwise buy a ticket to a traditional theater or tech conference.
During the ADA.ADA.ADA. Library Tour—including performances across Manchester Libraries in 2017—audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and identities experienced the production. The reactions from young students, parents, educators, and community members reflect the show's profound personal and educational impact.
Below are the direct words and authentic feedback recorded from audience members and organizers during the tour:
"I think it's inspirational because we can learn more about technology."
"Women can do it as well as men can do it."
"It's just a really cool story and I think everyone should go check it out."
"Everyone can experience ADA ADA ADA because it's wonderful to hear that girls can get involved with everything as well."
"It's telling us up not all men can do this stuff. Women as well can do it."
"I liked the way when she leaned back and then it all turned white and it was really cool."
"The dress was so engaging for the girls. You know you could see in the audience they were just fascinated by this dress."
— Dawn Hewitson
"We need to tell the story of Ada Lovelace with all the other women that were pioneers of the technology that we know now so that they can inspire other women to skill up and become involved in technology of the future. You."
— Zoe Philpott
To understand why ADA.ADA.ADA. resonates so strongly with contemporary audiences, one must examine the extraordinary life and intellectual achievements of Augusta Ada Lovelace.
Born in 1815 to the Romantic poet Lord Byron and the mathematically inclined Anne Isabella Milbanke, Ada's upbringing was unique for a 19th-century noblewoman. Her mother, fearful that Ada might inherit her father's unpredictable poetic temperament, insisted she be rigorously educated in:
Advanced mathematics and logic
Astronomy and physics
Mechanical engineering and botany
Ada developed a unique perspective that she famously described as "poetical science." She viewed mathematics not as a dry set of calculations, but as an imaginative, creative tool capable of describing the hidden structures of the universe.
In 1833, at the age of 17, Ada was introduced to Charles Babbage, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Babbage had designed a mechanical calculating machine called the Difference Engine and was developing plans for a far more ambitious machine: the Analytical Engine.
While Babbage viewed his machine primarily as a tool for calculating numerical tables for navigation and astronomy, Lovelace foresaw its true potential. She realized that the machine was not limited merely to numbers.
In 1842, Lovelace translated an article on the Analytical Engine written by Italian engineer Luigi Menabrea. At Babbage's suggestion, she appended a set of her own extensive notes, labelled A through G. These notes were three times longer than the original article itself.
In Note G, Lovelace wrote a step-by-step method for calculating Bernoulli numbers using the Analytical Engine. This detailed sequence of instructions is widely recognized today as the world's first published computer algorithm, making Ada Lovelace the world's first computer programmer.
Beyond writing the first algorithm, Lovelace made a visionary leap that would not be realized until the mid-20th century. She recognized that if a machine could manipulate symbols that represented numbers, it could also manipulate symbols that represented:
Musical notes and compositions
Words, language, and logic
Images and complex scientific graphs
She wrote that the engine might compose elaborate, scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent. In doing so, Ada Lovelace transitioned the human understanding of machinery from mere calculation to universal computing.
Ada Lovelace is not the only woman whose contributions were downplayed in official tech histories. The ADA.ADA.ADA. project highlights a broader historical pattern: women have always been central to technological breakthroughs, yet their achievements are frequently forgotten or attributed to male colleagues.
To build a sustainable pipeline of women in tech, we must recover the histories of all female pioneers, including:
The ENIAC Programmers (1940s): During World War II, six women—Kay McNulty, Betty Jennings, Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Fran Bilas, and Ruth Lichterman—programmed the ENIAC, the world's first all-electronic digital computer. For decades, their work was dismissed as simple clerical labor, while male hardware designers received sole credit.
Grace Hopper (1900s–1990s): A Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, Hopper invented the first compiler for a computer programming language and pioneered machine-independent programming languages, leading directly to the creation of COBOL.
Hedy Lamarr (1910s–2000s): An actress and inventor, Lamarr co-patented a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum technology during WWII intended to prevent radio guidance jamming. Her core invention laid the technical foundation for modern Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS technologies.
Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson (1950s–1970s): African American mathematicians at NASA whose manual calculations, programming work, and orbital mechanics calculations were critical to the success of the U.S. space program.
Margaret Hamilton (1930s–Present): Director of the Software Engineering Division at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, Hamilton led the team that developed the onboard flight software for NASA’s Apollo space program, coining the term "software engineering" itself.
By telling these stories alongside Ada's, ADA.ADA.ADA. helps restore these pioneers to public awareness, proving that women have always belonged at the forefront of innovation.
Staging ADA.ADA.ADA. in public libraries is a deliberate strategy. Public libraries are among the most democratic, free, and accessible institutions in modern society.
Public libraries are no longer just quiet places to borrow books. Today, they serve as:
Digital Inclusion Hubs: Providing free internet, public computers, and technology classes to marginalized communities.
Maker Spaces & Innovation Labs: Giving patrons access to 3D printers, coding clubs, robotics kits, and physical computing gear.
Community Equality Platforms: Allowing people of all ages, socioeconomic classes, and backgrounds to engage with cultural and educational programming for free.
By hosting the tour within neighborhood libraries across Manchester and the world, the project ensures that children who might not visit traditional theater venues can still experience high-quality live performance and digital education.
The gender gap in technology is not an unchangeable reality; it is a problem with a clear solution. To inspire the next generation of female coders, engineers, scientists, and creators, we must change the narratives we tell about technology's past.
Through the creative combination of an LED dress, performance art, public library outreach, and the support of "Ada's Army," ADA.ADA.ADA. shows that technology is creative, expressive, and open to everyone.
When young girls see Ada's story brought to life through light and theater, they realize that computing is not just for a select few—it is a space where they can lead, innovate, and shape the future.
| Category | Detail |
| Show Title | Ada.Ada.Ada. — Ada The Show Library Tour |
| Historical Subject | Augusta Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) |
| Creator & Performer | Zoe Philpott |
| Performance Format | One-woman solo show using an LED dress & physical computing metaphors |
| Key Partners | Public Library Task Force, International Agencies, Ada's Army Team |
| Featured Tour Archive | Manchester Libraries Audience Tour (2017) |
| Core Mission | Inspiring women and girls to skill up, challenge female gaps, and enter STEAM fields. |
