Stage rights!: The Actresses' Franchise League, activism and politics 1908-58

by Naomi Paxton

Overview

Stage rights! explores the work and legacy of the first feminist political theatre group of the twentieth century, the Actresses' Franchise League. Formed in 1908 to support the suffrage movement through theatre, the League and its membership opened up new roles for women on stage and off, challenged stereotypes of suffragists and actresses, created new work inspired by the movement and was an integral part of the performative propaganda of the campaign. Introducing new archival material to both suffrage and theatre histories, this book is the first to focus in detail on the Actresses' Franchise League, its membership and its work. The volume is formulated as a historiographically innovative critical biography of the organisation over the fifty years of its activities, and invites a total reassessment of the League within the accepted narratives of the development of political theatre in the UK.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526114808
Publisher:	Manchester University Press
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Series:	Women, Theatre and Performance
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

Naomi Paxton is an independent theatre researcher

Table of Contents

Introduction: re-evaluating the AFL
1. Exhibition
2. Sisterhood
3. Visibility
4. Militancy
5. Hope
6. Legacy
Bibliography
Index