Inez Bensusan

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Inez Bensusan was an Australian-born actress who played a prominent role in the Actresses' Franchise League in London. Although she wrote only three one-act plays herself, as head of the AFL Play Department she actively encouraged several British women writers and actresses to write plays or sketches for the suffrage cause. She also wrote some short stories and articles promoting women's suffrage. Her commitment to feminist causes is evident in every aspect of her career.
Photograph of a painting of Inez Bensusan by Cecil William Rea, 1924. She is seated, seen from the side but with her head turned towards the viewer. She has chin-length brown hair, and wears a loose green jacket (echoing the shade of the background) over a dark pink dress.

Milestones

1871

IB was born in Sydney, Australia, one in a large family; her exact birthdate is not known.
Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago.
62
Smith, Susan Bradley. “Inez Bensusan, suffrage theatre’s nice colonial girl”. Playing Australia, edited by Elizabeth Schafer and Susan Bradley Smith, Rodopi, pp. 126-41.
128

14 March 1909

IB 's first play, a one-act suffrage drama entitled The Apple, had one matinee performance by the Play Actors at the Court Theatre in London.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press.
46
Nicoll, Allardyce. English Drama, 1900-1930. Cambridge University Press.
508

1 a. m., 2 April 1911

IB 's play The Apple was included in a late-night programme of sketches and songs performed as part of a weekend protest against the Census, organized by the Women's Social and Political Union .
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(30 Mar 1911): 14

About 1967

IB died at ninety-six years of age. The exact date, place, and cause of her death are unknown.
Smith, Susan Bradley. “Inez Bensusan, suffrage theatre’s nice colonial girl”. Playing Australia, edited by Elizabeth Schafer and Susan Bradley Smith, Rodopi, pp. 126-41.
139

Biography

Birth

1871

IB was born in Sydney, Australia, one in a large family; her exact birthdate is not known.
Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago.
62
Smith, Susan Bradley. “Inez Bensusan, suffrage theatre’s nice colonial girl”. Playing Australia, edited by Elizabeth Schafer and Susan Bradley Smith, Rodopi, pp. 126-41.
128

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