The focus of the panel discussion is the intersection of art, history and politics. Panel participants are Jen Berger, artist/educator and creator/leader of At the Root and adjunct faculty at Champlain College and Community College of Vermont; Selene Colburn, member, Vermont House of Representatives and faculty, UVM Department of Theatre and Dance; Kathryn Dungy, chair of Saint Michael’s College History Department; and Mary Beth McNulty, playwright for The Suffragist Reenactment Society. Mariah Riggs, director of Main Street Landing Performance Arts Center, moderates the panel.
The Vermont Suffrage Centennial Alliance (VSCA) presents the inaugural production of The Suffragist Reenactment Society in ten venues across the state.
Covering the period 1848-1920, the play is a fast-paced journey through the history of how women fought for and won the right to vote in the United States. The three dynamic stars of VSCA’s production are Vermont’s own Kathryn Blume of Charlotte (The Roommate, Three Days of Rain, The Seagull), Sarah Mell of Winooski (Popcorn Falls, Taming of the Shrew, “Blackberry Winter,”) and Julia Sioss of Colchester (Sense and Sensibility, The Wolves, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.)
Blume, Mell, and Sioss embody the determination of suffragists from Susan B. Anthony to Ida B. Wells while addressing the complex interplay of race and gender in the suffrage movement and its continuing impact today. Full of facts, fun, and historical figures, the play asks audiences to consider the stories we hear and, more importantly, those we don’t, when we teach and learn about the history of social movements. The Suffragist Reenactment Society is written by Mary Beth McNulty and directed by Laura Roald.
The Suffrage Reenactment Society is proudly presented by VSCA as part of its mission to commemorate the centennial of women winning the vote via the 19th Amendment.
