Deeds Not Words was my first completely independent production. Researched, written, directed and performed by myself as a one woman show the play explored the life and work of militant suffragette arsonist Kitty Marion. Born Katherina Maria Schafer on the 12th of March 1871 in Rietberg, Germany, she emigrated to England in 1886 to escape a violent and abusive father. After Learning English she became an actress and toured the country. In her Biography, published post humorously in 2018, she describes the mistreatment she faced within the entertainment industry which was a driving force to her involvement in the suffragette movement. When researching, I was surprised by the number of parallels that could be drawn between Kitty’s experience and that of the modern woman, especially those in the entertainment industry. In many ways, Kitty lived through her own #MeToo movement which fuelled her anger and radicalised her actions within the suffragettes. It was these parallels I wanted to reflect to the audience, asking them to question how much things have really changed since women fought for and won the vote.

           Stories such as Kitty’s not only have specific historical significance, teaching us about an important period for women’s rights, but also have political power in that by highlighting the similarities between these stories and modern experiences, and thus what needs to be changed. They’re also important because they show the hidden side of the suffragette era. Today, the general public have a very specific image of what the suffragettes were Simon Webb notes that

The image which we have of them today is that of selfless and patient women, enduring imprisonment, hunger strikes and the horror of force-feeding in pursuit of what was surely a just cause – that of equality of rights between men and women. (Webb, 2018)

However, this portrayal ignores the true extent of the dangerous work many suffragettes did, as well as the violent militancy they resorted to. Whilst these actions were, to some, extreme, they played an important role in winning the vote and the women who committed them and faced the consequences should be remembered and respected for their sacrifice.
The process of making Deeds Not Words involved extensive research using Historical documents, biographies and Kitty’s own Autobiography. I then compiled all of this information into a verbatim script using Kitty’s own words from her autobiography, in doing this I hoped to preserve the integrity of her story and make my portrayal as truthful as possible.

          This project challenged me massively, as it was a one woman play I had to learn how to work in a productive manner on my own and not become overwhelmed by the workload. This struggle allowed me to learn more about myself as a creator and performer as well as highlighting an important story which still has relevance today and is extremely close to my heart.

 

Bibiliography

Marion, K., Gardner, V. and Atkinson, D. (2018). Kitty Marion. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Webb, S. (2018). Letter bombs and IEDs: Were the suffragettes terrorists?. [online] Sky News. Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/women-would-have-got-the-vote-earlier-if-not-for-suffragette-terrorists-11227772 [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].