Suffrage drama (also known as suffrage plays or suffrage theatre) is a form of dramatic literature that emerged during the British women's suffrage movement in the early twentieth century. Suffrage performances lasted approximately from 1907-1914. Many suffrage plays called for a predominant or all female cast. Suffrage plays served to reveal issues behind the suffrage movement. These plays also revealed many of the double standards that women faced on a daily basis. Suffrage theatre was a form of realist theatre, which was influenced by the plays of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

. Suffrage theatre combined familiar everyday situations with relatable characters on the stage in the style of realist theatre.

Pro-suffrage plays

Suffrage dramas in favor of women's suffrage often portray strong female characters who illustrate the qualities of rational, informed voters. They are meant to imply the obsolescence and inaccuracy of gender stereotypes that justified denying women the vote, such as

separate spheres Terms such as separate spheres and domestic–public dichotomy refer to a social phenomenon within modern societies that feature, to some degree, an empirical separation between a domestic or private sphere and a public or social sphere. This o ...

philosophy.Spender, Dale, and Carole Hayman, ed. How The Vote Was Won and Other Suffragette Plays. Methuen, 1986. 34-87. Print. Such characters often convince male or female anti-suffragists to revise their beliefs and support women's suffrage. Other plays satirize anti-suffragists as buffoons or narrow-minded individuals opposing progress. Many of these plays deliberately required few props and no sets. This was to allow amateur acting companies to perform the dramas at minimal cost, allowing them to be more widely performed and spread pro-suffrage sentiment. Due to the low cost of organizing a performance, suffrage plays were often performed in the drawing rooms of private residences and in small professional theaters.Finnegan, Margaret Mary. Selling suffrage: consumer culture & votes for women. Columbia University Press, 1999. Print.

United Kingdom

During the suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, eighteen short plays were published that have been coined women's suffrage dramaMaroula Joannou &

June Purvis June Purvis is an emeritus professor of women's and gender history at the University of Portsmouth. From 2014-18, Purvis was Chair of the Women’s History Network UK and from 2015-20 Treasurer of the International Federation for Research in Wo ...

, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: New Feminist Perspectives (Manchester University Press, 1998), 127. but these represent only a few of the numerous plays with suffrage themes, the majority written in support of the Cause, that have been identified. Susan Croft's 'Chronology of Plays addressing or supporting Suffrage Issues 1907-1914' lists 170, a figure further supplemented by additional plays, discovered since publication, listed online. Elizabeth Robins's ''Votes for Women'' and

Cicely Hamilton Cicely Mary Hamilton (née Hammill; 15 June 1872 – 6 December 1952), was an English actress, writer, journalist, suffragist and feminist, part of the struggle for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She is now best known for the feminist ...

and Christopher St. John's ''How the Vote Was Won'' are two predominant examples of suffrage plays. Elizabeth Robins's ''Votes for Women'' was one of the first published women's suffrage plays. It was performed in 1907 at the Court Theatre in London. Julie Holledge, British actor and director, wrote that ''Votes for Women'' “heralded the beginning of a suffrage theatre” and assisted in organizing actresses and “their involvement with the women’s rights movement and their dissatisfaction with a male dominated theatre, these women had begun to develop a drama that could express the reality of women’s lives...With the emergence of the mass suffrage movement in the Edwardian era, over a thousand actresses were thrust into the fight for votes for women. Out of their struggle the first ‘women’s theatre movement of the twentieth century was born.” The characters in these plays were realistic, middle class characters fighting for or against women's suffrage. These plays often featured female characters talking with each other about the suffrage movement and often broke the boundaries between class. Suffrage plays led to the 1908 formation of the

Actresses' Franchise League The Actresses' Franchise League was a women's suffrage organisation, mainly active in England. Founding In 1908 the Actresses' Franchise League was founded by Gertrude Elliott, Adeline Bourne, Winifred Mayo and Sime Seruya at a meeting in the ...

that “provided the infrastructure to promote women’s endeavors on a large scale.” Joannou, Maroula & Purvis, June, 136 Suffragists used plays to create changes in social attitudes. Attending a play was a social and community event, therefore their message reached a large audience in a short period of time. Some suffragists would say, “a change in legislation was attributed to the production of one play.” Suffrage plays were a source of optimism for the female suffrage movement. Suffrage theatre gave prominence to women's roles and issues for the first time and greatly influenced the women's suffrage movement. Theatre played a crucial role in the United Kingdom women's suffrage movement. Pro-suffrage acting organizations such as The

and

Edith Craig Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig ( Edith Godwin; 9 December 1869 – 27 March 1947), known as Edy Craig, was a prolific theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women's suffrage movement in England. She was the daughte ...

Pioneer Players Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig ( Edith Godwin; 9 December 1869 – 27 March 1947), known as Edy Craig, was a prolific theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women's suffrage movement in England. She was the daughte ...

formed alongside more political entities like the

National Society for Women's Suffrage The National Society for Women's Suffrage Manchester Branch The National Society for Women's Suffrage was the first national group in the United Kingdom to campaign for women's right to vote. Formed on 6 November 1867, by Lydia Becker, the organis ...

to campaign for the vote using drama and lectures. Only actresses were permitted to join the Actresses Franchise League. However, the AFL vowed to "assist all other omen's suffrageLeagues wherever possible" by creating and performing "propaganda plays" and hosting informative lectures on the subject. The United Kingdom was home to many of the premiere suffragist playwrights, including

(author of ''

Diana of Dobson's ''Diana of Dobson's'' is a 1908 feminist novel and play by Cicely Hamilton. The play is subtitled ''A Romantic Comedy in Four Acts''. Ostensibly a romantic comedy, it has been added to the canon of feminist theatre because it critiques many contem ...

''),

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

('' Press Cuttings''),

Beatrice Harraden Beatrice Harraden (1864–1936) was a British writer and suffragette. Life Born in Hampstead, London on 24 January 1864, to parents Samuel Harraden and Rosalie Lindstedt Harraden, Beatrice Harraden grew up to become an influential feminist w ...

(''Lady Geraldine's Speech''Crawford, E. The women's suffrage movement, a reference guide, 1866-1928. 1st ed. Psychology Press, 2002. Print.) and Bessie Hatton (''Before Sunrise''). Contemporary plays concerning the women's suffrage movement continue to be written and performed in Britain, such as Ian Flint's ''Woman'' (2003),

Rebecca Lenkiewicz Rebecca Lenkiewicz (born 1968) is a British playwright and screenwriter. She is best known as the author of ''Her Naked Skin'' (2008), which was the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of ...

's ''Her Naked Skin'' (2008) and Sally Sheringham's ''The Sound of Breaking Glass'' (2009). British suffrage organizations and magazines also showed an interest in the position of women in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and suffrage performance in Britain included tableaux by Indian women, performed in Sloane Square, while ''Votes for Women'' reviewed plays like Tagore's ''Chitra''.

America

Although many suffrage dramas were written by British authors and playwrights, a number of American writers contributed to the overall body of pro-suffrage plays. Many of these authors were well known in their own right:

Charlotte Perkins Gilman Charlotte Perkins Gilman (; née Perkins; July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935), also known by her first married name Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was an American humanist, novelist, writer, lecturer, advocate for social reform, and eugenicist. She wa ...

authored the recently re-published ''Three Women'', ''Something to Vote For'', T''he Ceaseless Struggle of Sex'': ''A Dramatic View'', and the suffragist/

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

correspondent

Inez Milholland Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American suffragist, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar, she campaigned aggressively for women’s rights as the principal issue of a wide ...

composed ''If Women Voted''. Organizations such as the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

viewed theatre as an effective way to spread pro-suffrage sentiment and provided suffrage dramas to professional and amateur theatres. Other American dramatists who contributed to the genre include Miriam Nicholson, Elizabeth Gerberding, Salina Solomon and Mrs. Charles Caffin. Although the suffrage drama movement didn't officially start until the early 20th century, there were similar plays being published by the late 19th century, such as

Ella Cheever Thayer Ella Cheever Thayer (September 14, 1849 – October 28, 1925) was an American playwright and novelist. Born in Maine, she worked as a telegraph operator and published several works in her lifetime. Biography She was the daughter of apothecary G ...

's ''

Lords of Creation ''Lords of Creation'' is a science fiction novel by American author Eando Binder (combined pseudonym for American brothers Earl and Otto Binder). It was first published in book form in 1949 by Prime Press Prime Press, Inc. was a science fiction ...

''. Unfortunately many of the suffrage dramas circulated by the NAWSA have been lost, and the only evidence of their existence has been found in surviving order pamphlets for the plays.

Anti-suffrage plays

Some of the earliest plays to address the question of women's suffrage were written in opposition to extending the vote. These plays satirized the notion of revised (and more equal) gender roles by portraying women as incapable of influence afforded to men or characterizing suffragists as "unwomanly" grotesques. Little research has been done into the prevalence or popularity of these anti-suffrage plays.Friedl, Bettina. On To Victory: Propaganda Plays of the Woman Suffrage Movement. Northeastern, 1990. Print. One notable example that transitioned from small parlor performances (like the pro-suffrage plays performed by amateur actors) to widespread popularity in the United States is ''The Spirit of Seventy-Six; or, The Coming Woman, A Prophetic Drama'' (1868) by Ariana Randolph Wormeley Curtis and Daniel Sargent Curtis. The play was written following the Civil War, as many abolitionists were beginning to shift their focus to different social issues, such as women's suffrage. The play is meant to be an absurdest fantasy depicting what life would be like if women and men traded gender roles. For example, women in the play wear men's clothing, smoke cigars, and hold all political offices while men struggle to tend to children in the home. The play implies that by enfranchising women they will all become horribly masculine, and suggests that radical suffrage activists campaign to "cover their own undesirability or incompetence".

Influential British Suffrage Plays

*''How the Vote Was Won'' by

and

Christopher St John Christabel Gertrude Marshall (aka Christopher Marie St John) (24 October 1871 – 20 October 1960) was a British campaigner for women's suffrage, a playwright and author. Marshall lived in a ménage à trois with the artist Clare Atwood and ...

*''Votes for Women'' by

Elizabeth Robins Elizabeth Robins (August 6, 1862 – May 8, 1952) was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette. She also wrote as C. E. Raimond. Early life Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, was born in Louisville, ...

*''Lady Geraldine's Speech'' by

*''A Chat with Mrs Chicky and Miss Appleyard's Awakening'' by Evelyn Glover *''A Woman's Influence'' by

Gertrude Jennings Gertrude Eleanor Jennings (1877–1958) was a British theatrical author of the early twentieth century notable for her one-act social comedies. Life A daughter of British born Louis John Jennings, one-time editor of the ''New York Times'' (187 ...

*''The Apple'' by

Inez Bensusan Inez Bensusan (1871–1967) was an Australian born Jewish actress, playwright and suffragette in the UK. She was a leader of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Jewish League for Woman Suffrage. Life Bensusan was born in Sydney, Australia ...

References

External links

{{Suffrage 20th century Theatrical genres