Votes for Women and Other Plays

by Susan Croft (Editor)

The astonishing women involved in the Actresses Franchise League set up their own theatre companies and engaged with the battle for the vote by writing and performing campaigning plays all over the country. They launched themselves onto the political stage with their satirical plays, sketches and monologues whilst at the same time challenging the staid conventions of the Edwardian Theatre of the day. The legacy of their inspiring work to change both theatre and society has survived in the political theatre, agit-prop and verbatim theatre we know today. Introduced and set in an historical context by Dr Susan Croft together with an extensive Chronology of suffrage drama 1907-1914.
Full playtexts from the following:
’How the Vote was Won’ by Cicely Hamilton and Chris St. John
’The Apple’ by Inez Bensusan
’Jim s Leg’ by L.S. Phibbs
’Votes for Women’ by Elizabeth Robins
’At the Gates’ by Alice Chapin
’In the Workhouse’ by Margaret Wynne Nevinson
’A Change of Tenant’ by Helen Margaret Nightingale.

Genres: Plays, Feminism

255 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Stef Rozitis]

I didn't love all the plays but I think some of them would still work on the stage (which is what they were chosen for). Croft is a great editor, giving some context like biographical material, rationale for her choices etc. I would have liked even more of the historical context but that's not what the book was for I realise.

Definitely worth a look if you deal in plays and/or are interested in the history of women's sufferage. I would like to see the same from Australia (if such exist).

[Cathy Ellen]

Just read the first play: unsure if it is necessary to read the others for university course yet. I can understand why perhaps it would have been popular in its day (if it was) but other than showing me how perhaps the 'woman question' was considered in the early twentieth century there was little that actually happened in this play to hold attention.