I’ll be honest, the first thing that usually comes to my mind when prompted about women’s rights to vote is the character Mrs. Banks in the 1964 Disney movie, Mary Poppins. She graces the screen every so often with the sing-song battle cry “Votes for women!” then proceeds to rush out the door to go wave some signs around and join her sisters once more. While a memorable presence, this portrayal only illuminates the tiniest course of action taken by women’s rights advocates in the early 20th century.
Rebel Women, created and directed by Joan Bryans, brings the more dramatic elements of the women’s suffrage movement to light. It’s a verbatim play, using the words and songs of real-life suffragettes to guide the story. Set in London, England, the show introduces us to women from every social class, from mill workers to aristocrats, compelled to action after being exposed to injustice on a daily basis.
Why was it that when the women finished a long day of work, they were the ones who cooked, cleaned, and looked after the children, while their husbands went off to the pub? Why were men the ones deciding whether women could vote or not? Despite their differences in life, it was clear to these women that rallying together would be the only way direct change could be made.
The play starts out like a history lesson. We see the women’s effort grow and attract more attention, in spite of routine rejection and dismissals by Parliament and the law. We learn about the contributions of Canadians to the movement.
In the second act, we are shown what suffragettes would have experienced at Holloway Prison, an institution that became female-only in response to the growing women’s movement. Here, the women who attempt to stage hunger and thirst strikes in the name of their cause are force fed and brutally assaulted. This is the most compelling and enlightening element of the entire play. The actors’ ability to communicate this injustice so vividly is amazing to watch.
Rebel Women gave me and my fellow audience members the chance to sit down collectively and experience the women’s suffrage movement. Having the opportunity to reflect and realize how far we’ve come as a society, is a wonderful yet perplexing experience.
October is officially Women’s History Month, which means that now is as good a time as any to explore the development of women’s rights in Canada, and what better way than seeing a play that uses the words of the suffragettes themselves?
Rebel Women runs from October 3 to 12 at Presentation House Theatre. For more information, visit phtheatre.org.
