''Sylvia'' is a British stage work on the life of

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with t ...

. It was originally co-commissioned by the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

and 14-18 NOW from

Kate Prince Katherine Jane Prince (born 1974) is a British choreographer, and the founder and director of ZooNation.Kate Prince in ZooNation Dance Compan retrieved March 30, 2015 Early life Kate Prince was born in Southampton in 1974. Career In 2002, Pr ...

and her company ZooNation to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 and the end of the First World War. However, it evolved into a full-scale dance, soul, funk and hip hop musical, which was initially presented at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

as a work-in-progress from 8 to 22 September 2018, with a book by Prince and Priya Parmar. A full production of the completed version will have its world premiere in 2023, playing at

from 27 January to 1 April 2023. The main score was written by DJ Walde and Josh Cohen, with additional music by Prince. The work-in-progress 2018 run was mounted by Prince's company ZooNation, with Maria Omakinwa (understudying for

Genesis Lynea Genesis Lynea Edwards (born 20 October 1989) is a Bermudian-born British actress, dancer and singer. She originated the role of Anna of Cleves in ''Six''. On television, she is known for her roles as in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' (2019 ...

) as Sylvia, Witney White and Verity Blyth as her sisters Christabel and

Adela Adela may refer to: * ''Adela'', a 1933 Romanian novel by Garabet Ibrăileanu * ''Adela'' (1985 film), a 1985 Romanian film directed by Mircea Veroiu * ''Adela'' (2000 film), a 2000 Argentine thriller film directed and written by Eduardo Mign ...

and

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...

as their mother

Emmeline ''Emmeline, The Orphan of the Castle'' is the first novel written by English writer Charlotte Smith; it was published in 1788. A Cinderella story in which the heroine stands outside the traditional economic structures of English society and ...

. The 2023 world premiere production will again be directed and choreographed by

and will star

, reprising her role as

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

, Sharon Rose as the titular character Sylvia and

Alex Gaumond Alex Gaumond (born ) is a Canadian actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker best known for his involvement in West End theatre. He plays series regular gendarme Caron, the chief of police in Sainte Victoire, in the Channel 5 television series '' T ...

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

, founder and first leader of the Labour Party.

Plot

Starting with a flash-forward to Sylvia's expulsion from the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

(WSPU) in 1913, the work returns to Sylvia and Christabel's childhood, their memories of their father

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

's death, the early days of the WSPU, Christabel's relationship with

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

, the death of Sylvia's brother Frank and particularly Sylvia's close but on-off relationship with

. A sub-plot centres on the political and home life of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, pulled in different directions on the women's suffrage issue by his mother Jennie and his wife

Clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...

. The stakes are raised by misogynist threats and police brutality, leading Emmeline, Christabel and

Flora Drummond Flora McKinnon Drummond (née Gibson) (born 4 August 1878, Manchester – died 17 January 1949, Carradale), was a British suffragette. Nicknamed 'The General' for her habit of leading Women's Rights marches wearing a military style uniform 'wi ...

towards a more militant stance. The pacifist Sylvia takes issue with this but still takes part in the ensuing window-breaking, imprisonment and hunger strikes. She also disagrees with their strategic delay in seeking the vote for working-class women and their reactions to Hugh Franklin's attack on Churchill and

Emily Davison Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was an English suffragette who fought for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, votes for women in Britain in the early twentieth century. A member of the Women's Social and Polit ...

's death, which Sylvia sees as merely capitalising on them for press attention and public support. Ultimately Sylvia is unable to give the unquestioning loyalty required by Christabel and Emmeline and is expelled from the WSPU, freeing her up to form the

East London Federation of Suffragettes The Workers' Socialist Federation was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. Under many different names, it gradually broadened its politics from a focus on women's suffrage to eventually become a left com ...

in tandem with

George Lansbury George Lansbury (22 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician and social reformer who led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935. Apart from a brief period of ministerial office during the Labour government of 1929–31, he spe ...

and lead a delegation of working-class East End women to Parliament. Sylvia comes close to achieving her goals with the third of the

Conciliation Bills Conciliation bills were proposed legislation which would extend the right of women to vote in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to just over a million wealthy, property-owning women. After the January 1910 election, an all-party Con ...

- the Prime Minister makes this conditional on an end to militant action, but Sylvia is unable to convince her mother and sister to call such a truce. Keir Hardie resigns his parliamentary seat in protest at the outbreak of World War One and rapidly descends into ill-health, with his wife reluctantly arranging a final meeting between him and Sylvia. Emmeline suspends suffragette activity for the duration of the war and women over 30 are granted the vote in 1918. In the final scene, Sylvia brings the child she has had with her partner Silvio Corio to attempt one final reconciliation with her mother, only to find Emmeline assisting in Christabel's campaign to win a seat - as a Conservative candidate.

References

Sources

* * {{Emmeline Pankhurst 2018 musicals Biographical musicals Plays set in the 1900s Plays set in the 1910s Plays based on actual events Rap operas * * Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill Cultural depictions of activists Cultural depictions of Emmeline Pankhurst British musicals Biographical plays about activists