Suffrage Takes Center Stage in Ghostlight's Plays For Women!

CHICAGO - March 4, 2024 - PRLog -- Ghostlight Ensemble returns to the Richard H. Driehaus Museum this week with Plays for Women!: A collection of overlooked suffrage plays.

Though once a vital part of the suffrage movement, these four short works are rarely performed in modern day. Plays for Women! is a co-production with the Driehaus Museum coincide with March as Women's History Month and is part of Ghostlight's For Your (Re)Consideration series.

"These little-known American and British suffrage plays are excellent examples of thought-provoking and entertaining plays that are still shockingly relevant to our current environment. Encountering these plays – written in the early 20th century – more than a 100 years later, illuminates the issues we are still fighting for, the barriers that still exist and the arguments still used to justify oppression," said director Holly Robison.

The works which are part of Plays for Women! vary widely in tone, from an incisive social problem play to a farce-like comedy. They are: Something to Vote For by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, An Anti-Suffragist, or, The Other Side by H.M. Paull, The Mother's Meeting by Mrs. Harlow Phibbs and Lady Geraldine's Speech by Beatrice Harraden.

"These plays are overlooked historical gems that modern audiences will find surprisingly familiar," Robison said.

Plays for Women!: A collection of overlooked suffrage plays is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the Nickerson Ballroom at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum (40 East Erie St., Chicago, IL 60611). Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. The reading runs about 90 minutes with an intermission. A brief talkback will follow. Learn more at https://www.ghostlightensemble.com/plays-for-women

Plays for Women! Is part of Ghostlight's For Your (Re)Consideration series (https://www.ghostlightensemble.com/for-your-reconsideration), which explores the works of historically overlooked female writers. Featuring a variety of distinct voices and styles from different historical periods, the readings seek to bring attention to these remarkable women who have been sidelined by history for reasons that had nothing to do with their talent and everything to do with their gender and, in many cases, their race.

Ghostlight Ensemble is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit theatre whose mission it is to ask questions that challenge the status quo through timeless stories, immersive environments and unconventional staging. As an ensemble-based theatre, Ghostlight is made up of individual artists who are dedicated to collaborative creation and committed to working together consistently over years to develop a distinctive body of work. We welcome you to learn more about us at GhostlightEnsemble.com (https://www.ghostlightensemble.com/).