By Elyse Trevers
Ask any student about women’s suffrage, and you will likely hear the name Susan B. Anthony. After all, the US even coined a dollar to commemorate her contributions.
But Anthony was merely one in a line of many women involved in the movement. And the new musical “Suffs,” with book, music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, includes many whose names may be unfamiliar to the audience. (Our particular audience at the Public Theater primarily consisted of young women.)
It was a movement that spanned years and had many phases. The title “Suffs” refers to the suffragists who worked so hard to get women the right to vote.
When the show first opens, Carrie Chapman Catt (the dynamic Jenn Colella) has worked diligently with her committee getting individual states to give women the right to vote. She has been successful in several states and now has her sights set on NY, but it’s a long process.
Along comes 27-year-old Alice Paul (played by Holly Gould, understudy for Taub at the performance I attended.) Paul is obsessively focused on securing the vote for women. She’s impatient and sees Catt’s methods as too slow. She wants immediate results and is willing to take drastic action.
So she and the others she’s enlisted, including Ruza Wenclawska ((Hannah Cruz) Doris Stevens (Nadia Dendashi) and Inez Milholland (Phillipa Soo) decide to protest in Washington the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Although the women get attention, they don’t get the amendment. Paul remains undeterred and the campaign continues, as the movement grows.
While the musical shows the determination and camaraderie among the women, it also reveals the divisiveness. The Southern women don’t want the Black women to march with them. Some of the Black women accept the compromise while others like journalist Ida B. Wells (Nikki M. James) voice their unhappiness.
The creatives of “Suffs” are mostly female with skilled director Leigh Silverman at the helm. The cast is all women, with some playing the male roles. The musicians are all women as are the scenic director Mim Lien, the costume designer Toni-Leslie James, and the lighting designer Natasha Katz. No problem with representation in this show!
Taub does a fine job tackling a difficult emotional task, especially when the women are sent to prison.This would make a wonderful field trip for a high school history class. However, the show is lengthy and needs to be trimmed. Several scenes could be omitted, especially when a major character dies. The action goes on too long, and the story even continues after the amendment is passed.
The passage of the 19th Amendment was an important time in American history, one which is often given short-shrift. Taub’s talents highlight the importance of the movement and how hard-fought the amendment was. More women need to be reminded so they get out and vote and not squander this right.
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