A New play inspired by the Suffragette-Suffragist struggle South West tour April
to December 2018
A new play inspired by an imagined meeting between two great leaders of the
women’s suffrage campaign is touring the South West.
The Cause depicts the explosive meeting of minds when Millicent Fawcett and
Emmeline Pankhurst come together at a time when campaigns for women’s
rights were at their most revolutionary & embattled.
Written by playwright Natalie McGrath, and directed by Josie Sutciffe, The
Cause explores the struggle, and the effects of campaigning for a cause by
different methods. There was a divide between the violent direct action of the
suffragettes and the peaceful constitutional means of the suffragists.
The play is produced by Dreadnought South West, a charity which connects
individuals and communities through telling great and courageous stories
about women. With funding from Arts Council England, The Cause will tour the
South West.
Dreadnought South West’s previous projects include Oxygen, a play which
tells the story of a group of women who walked from Land’s End to Hyde Park
as part of the Great Suffrage Pilgrimage in 1913. The Cause will tour along this
route and beyond, reaching a wide range of venues and locations from the
Old Library in Bodmin to Yeld Hall, Chippenham. The production is led by an
all-female creative team, cast and crew and aims to reflect the diversity and
challenges women face in contemporary society.
Director Josie Sutcliffe said:
“This play considers the impact of a lifetime of political campaigning on an
individual, asking: ‘how far would you go for what you believe in?’ Many
women gave up a great deal; home, family, children, and in some cases their
own lives, to join the suffrage campaign. We hope that The Cause will provide
a stimulus for debates on gender inequality, democracy and citizenship
amongst many different groups within the communities we will visit.”
Playwright Natalie McGrath said:
“This tour feels timely with the current energy and visibility of women’s rights
and gender equality campaigning that is taking place, and the centenary of
the first votes for some women. As we developed the work, we met many
women who have been campaigning for a long time. I really felt those stories
that were shared with us at Dreadnought very deeply, and they have emerged
as being at the heart of this play about Millicent Fawcett and Emmeline
Pankhurst.”
Tuesday 6 November 8pm
Tickets: £12/£10/£8 (School Groups)
Box Office: 01805 624624 or online theploughartscentre.org.uk
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