Continuing our occasional series of guest posts on suffrage and the theatre, we’re delighted to publish this piece by Deborah Clair and Philippa Urquhart on their exciting new play about Emily Wilding Davison in Parliament. Deborah Clair – Emily Wilding … Continue reading ‘A Necessary Woman’ – bringing Emily Wilding Davison back to Parliament
Guest post by Eleanor Rhode Leading workshops is always fun, but we were particularly excited to be invited to take part in Parliament’s UK Vote 100 project – which celebrates 100 years of the passing of the Representation of the … Continue reading ‘Maiden Speeches’ – Finding Your Voice
Guest post by Jacqueline Mulhallen Rebels and Friends – a play about Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth, written by Jacqueline Mulhallen, directed by William Alderson, and produced by Lynx Theatre and Poetry In 1918 Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the British Parliament. Because she was a a member of Sinn Fein, she did not take her seat, and there is some doubt whether she would have been eligible, though that question was not raised at the time! Instead, she became Ireland’s first minister of Labour under the illegal Sinn Fein Parliament in Ireland and the only female Cabinet Minister at … Continue reading Rebels and Friends, Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth
Guest post by Jacqueline Mulhallen Sylvia – a play about Sylvia Pankhurst written and performed by Jacqueline Mulhallen, directed by William Alderson, and produced by Lynx Theatre and Poetry Sylvia Pankhurst is perhaps less well-known than her mother Emmeline and sister Christabel who were the leaders of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU),but she did at least as much as they did, and perhaps more, to get votes for women. Sylvia was a very talented artist who won scholarships to Manchester School of Art and later to study in Venice and at the Royal College of Art, but she gave … Continue reading Sylvia Pankhurst, artist and suffragette
Guest post by Claire Moore So many women fought for our right to vote and yet statues and tributes to these formidable women are too few and far between. With the centenary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 … Continue reading ‘What makes a little girl of principle become a lurking shadow in the night?’
Guest post by Naomi Paxton Here at Vote 100 we often get emails from performers and playwrights who want to write about the suffrage movement, and to share the stories and voices of suffragists and suffragettes and their campaign for the vote. This is particularly exciting for me, as my doctoral research was all about the support given to the movement by the professional theatre industry, and in particular the Actresses’ Franchise League (AFL), founded in 1908. The AFL were neutral regarding suffrage tactics and supported all other societies regardless of their stance on militancy, which meant that members appeared … Continue reading Suffrage in the Spotlight
UK Vote 100: Looking forward to the centenary of Equal Franchise in 2028 in the UK Parliament 