The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays is an anthology of eight exciting pieces written for
and by members of the Actresses Franchise League from 1909-13. Immediately playable they offer
strong varied roles for female casts while also providing invaluable source material to
students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Featuring 'How The Vote Was Won' which
remains one of the most popular and well known suffrage plays the volume also includes seven
shorter works: 'Lady Geraldine's Speech' (1909) a fantastic fun piece for actresses. Lady
Geraldine hasn't thought through the Suffrage cause and on a visit to an old school friend
meets some charismatic successful and intelligent women who soon enlighten and encourage her
on to the right path! 'Pot and Kettle' (1909) a comic piece in which a young woman returns to
her family in great distress having assaulted a suffragette who was sitting near her at a
Anti-Suffragist meeting. 'Miss Appleyard's Awakening' about an anti-suffrage campaigner who
finds herself in the home of a sympathizer but ends up inadvertently drawing her hostesses'
attention to the contradictions in her arguments 'Her Vote' by the actor and playwright Henry
Esmond which provides an interesting male viewpoint on the movement criticizing the young
suffragist for wanting to be part of a movement about which she seems to understand little.
'The Anti-Suffragist or The Other Side' a charming clever monologue about a sheltered young
woman who finds herself increasingly involved with her local Anti-Suffrage society and
increasingly puzzled by what she learns there. 'The Mother's Meeting' an entertaining
monologue that uses a working class character to expose the inconsistencies in the
Anti-Suffrage arguments. 'Tradition' was first performed at a matinee for the Woman Suffrage
Party held at the Berkeley Theatre in New York City on Saturday 24 January 1913. The plays
featured articulate the arguments of the Suffrage Movement through a variety of styles both
comic and serious and perfectly illustrate the use of drama as a medium for social change and
entertainment. Together with illustrations and an introduction charting the history of the
Actresses Franchise League and exploring the context and provenance of the plays this is an
excellent resource for both study and performance.
