By Bethany Davies and Nicoletta Peddis
Everything is Possible, the story of York Suffragettes, took place at Theatre Royal from the 20th of June until the 1st of July. Directed by Julie Foster and Katie Posner and written by Bridget Foreman, it celebrates the successes and commemorates the suffering of the suffragettes in York between 1912 and 1918. The play rotates around the central character of Annie Seymour Pearson (Barbara Marten), York’s only suffragette ever to be arrested. Apart from Marten, the only professional actor in the cast, Pilot Theatre realized a large-scaled community project involving 150 people.
Theatre places you, not metaphorically but physically, into another world. You sit far away in your row F seats, peering at the stage in a darkened theatre, surrounded by women who are more grey than you hope you’ll ever get whispering theatre gossip at one another. But somehow, from afar, you still delve into the world played out on stage. And this experience is amplified even more when the stage is not just moved outdoors, but the outdoors is, in fact, the stage.
The play’s prologue began at the steps of the almighty York Minster at 7:15pm. On approach, we were welcomed by a crowd of protestors holding banners, chanting, as well as (to our surprise) a few buskers. There were segmented sections of the crowd, and protestors walked laps with their banners and stopped to talk to the people gathering round. For the following 20 minutes, there was a lot of indirection; the audience had very little guidance as to what was happening.
Perhaps twenty minutes in, the women in purple code made their entrance. They proceeded gracefully through the crowds from the back, chanting and holding banners at least 5 feet tall. Their presence was so stunning it heightened the audience’s interest and a quiet fell over the crowd. The following scene was absolutely marvellous; a vision tunnelling you directly into the past. And then the prologue had reached its finale.
The play migrated onto the stage of York Theatre Royal. Young girls, dressed in petticoats, marched loud and boisterous around the stairways, shouting ‘no votes for women’ and handing out postcards with what we might now call the latest ‘meme’ on the ‘joke’ that was women’s rights. This contrast was enlightening and addressed the fact that not all people – not even some women – were in support of this new movement.
The majority of the performance focused on Annie Seymour-Pearson, York’s only suffragette to be imprisoned for militant protests. The character was warm and welcoming; a loving mother and wife. Her previous ignorance to the women’s movement was quickly overturned when her housekeeper’s two sisters were raped without justice being delivered upon the man who did it. Her eyes were opened and her political stance did a 360. She became a Suffragette, helping the girls arrested and abused and pushing for more of York to come forward and fight. The effects of this political engagement were magnificently managed in the production. The automatic screen acted as a black out, a screen capturing TV, and a translucent barrier to see two stories lit up in unison. The dress of all the actors was in keeping and moved with the years as the play progressed. Many personal stories were told, and their voices were used to show the work of the Suffragettes, and their suffering, as a community.
The community focus gives Everything is Possible a social and political resonance which is one the most striking aspects of the production, with a cast which actively participates in portraying an issue in whose importance they evidently believe. Together with a resonance that goes back and forth between past and present, it is the trait that gives emotion and at the same time power to the play. The viewer is never a passive spectator, being transported throughout the whole show into the fights of the suffragettes, receiving a first-hand experience of their courage, their passion and their pain and anguish. Everything Is Possible evokes strong feelings in the audience, including a sense of solidarity with the women involved and frustration and anger with the men who failed to listen to them. The play looks at the past, recalling a fundamental part of British history, but it starts and ends in the present, engaging with the democratic right to speak up and giving space to contemporary political and social issues that involve women and our society as a whole.
We approached this play with the expectation that it would teach us more about what was done to gain that right to vote. The play taught us this. But it also focused on another lesson. The severity of gender inequality has bled out of society over the years, and people bled to make this happen. Change didn’t happen overnight. It took a war to finally give women the vote. But the Suffragettes weren’t just concerned about their political rights. They understood that the movement went much further than that. The play didn’t just tell the story of Annie and the Suffragettes. It showed that it is important to know what did happen and relate it to what is happening now. Try thinking of the most recent news flash that made you feel like a feminist. The one that made you want to stand on your chair and shout. Change won’t happen via a Facebook status or a Twitter trail of rants. Change won’t happen overnight. It took a war. And look where we are now. In a supposedly blissful existence, where there is still inequality. Girls are still raped and tight clothes are blamed, not the man responsible. But it took a war to move society forward enough to give women the vote in 1918. Nearly a century later, take a look and see how far we’ve come. This play shows us that we must never forget the stepping stones that led us to a victory.