The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays ― Taking the Stage: Might is Right, Free Woman to Free Man, A Woman's Influence, Press Cuttings, Woman This and Women That, The Twelve Pound Look, For O

Building on the success of The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays, Taking the Stage: Plays from the Suffrage Movement introduces additional contemporary texts that provide performance material, stimulus for devising and discussion, and contextual information about the performative propaganda of the suffrage campaign in the Edwardian period.
Published in 2018 to commemorate the centenary of limited franchise, this edited anthology features a wide variety of short pieces and one-act plays popular during the suffrage movement, written by female and male suffragist writers and performed for both militant and non-militant societies between 1908-1914. Spanning different styles and genres they explore many issues that interested feminist and suffragist campaigners in this period, such as: women's work, the pressures on young actresses, economic inequality, visibility in public space, militant direct action and its consequences, and collective activism.
A broad and exciting collection, each piece, with the exception of Su L' Pave by Gladys Mendl, has a professional production history. Edited and introduced by Dr Naomi Paxton, the anthology is brimming with in-depth knowledge and contextual information of the period and work making for an informative and inspirational volume of important texts.

Dr Naomi Paxton is a performer, researcher and suffrage historian. She trained at Goldsmiths College and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and her doctoral research, completed in 2015 at the University of Manchester, explored the work of theatre professionals in the suffrage campaign. Naomi regularly speaks about her research in the media and at a variety of events and festivals, and was one of the AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers in 2014-15. She is an Associate Artist of the feminist production hub Scary Little Girls. Her other publications include The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays (Bloomsbury, 2013) and Stage Rights! The Actresses' Franchise League, activism and politics 1908-1958 (Manchester University Press, 2018).