Vida Ravenscroft Sutton (1878 — July 27, 1956) was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, voice teacher, and radio professional.

Early life and education

Vida Ravenscroft Sutton was born in Oakland, California and raised in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

, the daughter of David M. Sutton and Mary Ravenscroft. She studied philosophy at the University of Chicago, graduating in 1903.

Career

Sutton was a member of the New Theatre Company in New York City beginning in 1910, and performed as an actress and singer as a young woman. She wrote plays and pageants with mainly historical and biblical settings, intended for church and community groups. Titles of her works included ''Christ is Born in Bethlehem'' (1924), ''Pageant of the Fifteenth Century'' (1928), ''A Pageant of Women of the Sixteenth Century'' (1927),''The Pilgrims' Holiday'' (1920), ''Wooings and Witches: A Shakespearean Medley'' (1925), ''A Masque of the Seventeenth Century'' (1927) and ''The Mantle of the Virgin'' (1921) She also co-wrote at least one play set in China, with Kyung Shien Sung (''The Betrothal of Mai Tsung''). Later in life she directed plays, and was the organizer and director of the small Onteora Playhouse at Tannersville, New York. From 1929 to 1937, Sutton was director and presenter of the NBC radio program "The Magic of Speech," and spoke on gender and broadcasting. She wrote a book of the same name, ''The Magic of Speech: Studies in Spoken English'' (1936), and another on similar themes, ''Seeing and Hearing America: Studies in Spoken English and Group Speaking'' (1936). She also taught speech and diction to NBC on-air personnel in the 1930s. She was also head of the drama and speech department at the

Finch School Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976. Founding Finch was founded in 1 ...

in New York for many years. In 1936, she was chair of the Radio Council for American Speech, which collaborated with the National Council of Teachers of English on public education programs. Sutton was active on behalf of suffrage and a member of

Heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, wh ...

, a women's debating club based in Greenwich Village. She wrote at least one suffrage play, ''Winning the Voter''.

Personal life and legacy

Sutton died in July 1956, age 77. Her unfinished manuscript about her father's Quaker upbringing and journey on the Oregon Trail in the 1860s was posthumously developed into a biography of David Sutton, by her nephew William R. Sutton, titled ''The Wind Blew Him West'' (Outskirts Press 2008).Vida R. Sutton and William R. Sutton, ''The Wind Blew Him West'' (Outskirts Press 2008).
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Vida Ravenscroft 1878 births 1956 deaths American dramatists and playwrights University of Chicago alumni