Selections from The Methuen Drama Book of SUFFRAGE PLAYS

Selections from The Methuen Drama Book of SUFFRAGE PLAYS

by Cicely Hamilton, Christopher St. John, Beatrice Harraden, Evelyn Glover, H. V. Esmond, Mrs. Holloway Phibbs, H. M. Paull, and George Middleton
Edited by Naomi Paxton

Suffrage plays are Edwardian comedies created to entertain women as they picketed and protested for the right to vote at the other turn of the century. Quick, witty, and entertaining, these plays were often inspired from real events.

There were over 400 female playwrights in Britain between the years 1900 and 1920, a period which witnessed enormous political and social change.

American women went to England where they learned the tactics of the Suffrage women. This included such activities as ballooning over Parliament and ripping the greens of the golf course with the words, “No Vote. No Golf” among many many other things. For the Americans having gathered every detail of Congressmen and Senators right down to the names of the pets, children, wives, and favorite foods and vacationing spots, to no avail after decades of kind attempts, this new approach would prove both controversial and effective.

Erased from history for a century, Venus brings these plays back to life to celebrate the strong shoulders of women on which we all stand today.