The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays

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An anthology of eight exciting pieces written for and by members of the Actresses Franchise League from 1909-13, providing invaluable source material to students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines

As well as unfolding a unique insight into the social manners and ideas of their time, all eight plays are eminently playable, offering strong, varied roles for female casts

The collection features How The Vote Was Won which remains one of the most popular and well known suffrage plays

The volume also includes seven shorter works:

Lady Geraldine's Speech (1909), a fantastic, fun piece for actresses. Lady Geraldine hasn't thought through the Suffrage cause and, on a visit to an old school friend meets some charismatic, successful and intelligent women who soon enlighten and encourage her on to the right path!

Pot and Kettle (1909), a comic piece in which a young woman returns to her family in great distress having assaulted a suffragette who was sitting near her at a Anti-Suffragist meeting

Miss Appleyard's Awakening is about an anti-suffrage campaigner who finds herself in the home of a sympathizer but ends up inadvertently drawing her hostesses' attention to the contradictions in her arguments

Her Vote by the actor and playwright Henry Esmond provides an interesting male viewpoint on the movement, criticizing the young suffragist for wanting to be part of a movement about which she seems to understand little

The Anti-Suffragist or The Other Side is a charming, clever monologue about a sheltered young woman who finds herself increasingly involved with her local Anti-Suffrage society and increasingly puzzled by what she learns there

The Mother's Meeting is an entertaining monologue that uses a working class character to expose the inconsistencies in the Anti-Suffrage arguments

And finally, there's Tradition which was first performed at a matinee for the Woman Suffrage Party held at the Berkeley Theatre in New York City on Saturday 24 January 1913

These plays articulate the arguments of the Suffrage Movement through a variety of styles, both comic and serious, and perfectly illustrate the use of drama as a medium for social change and entertainment

Together with illustrations and an introduction charting the history of the Actresses Franchise League and exploring the context and provenance of the plays they provide a unique and invaluable resource for both study and performance

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

The Plays:

How the Vote Was Won ~ Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St John

Lady Geraldine's Speech ~ Beatrice Harraden

Pot and Kettle ~ Cicely Hamilton and Christopher St John

Miss Appleyard's Awakening ~ Evelyn Glover

Her Vote ~ H. V. Esmond

The Anti-Suffragist or The Other Side ~ H. M. Paull

The Mother's Meeting ~ Mrs. Harlow Phibbs

Tradition ~ George Middleton

REVIEWS

"The book is a testament to the talent, tenacity and passion of those women artists who so ardently pushed the Votes for Women agenda" ~ Kate Kerrow, For Books' Sake

"A fine collection of eight plays of different genres created by members of the Actresses Franchise League (1909-1913), which are clever and often very comic. These unjustly neglected plays recall the passion and bravery of that remarkable political struggle" ~ The Lady

SEE ALSO:

Edith Craig and the Theatres of Art

Votes for Women and Other Plays

Lena Ashwell - Actress, Patriot, Pioneer

Suffrage Plays - Taking the Stage

For more WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE TITLES
click here