Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37. 123-4
Actresses' Franchise League
Connections
| Connections Sort descending | Author name | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|
| Cultural formation | Inez Bensusan | Little information is available about IB
's early life in Australia, before she emigrated to England and became active in the women's suffrage movement and the Actresses' Franchise League
. Her family was part... |
| Employer | Inez Bensusan | IB
became manager of the Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League
. In this position she mobilised writers to contribute plays to the suffrage cause. |
| Family and Intimate relationships | Madeleine Lucette Ryley | Madeleine (Roberts) Tearle
, MLR
's niece, was a West End actress who used the stage name Jane Comfort. Engle, Sherry D. New Women Dramatists in America, 1890-1920. Palgrave MacMilan, 2007. 92 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | Woman's Theatre Week, organised by IB
under the auspices of the Actresses' Franchise League
, was launched at the Coronet Theatre
in London. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 125 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | The Actresses' Franchise League
launched the Woman's Theatre War Relief Matinees
, a series of benefit performances organised by IB
, Janette Steer
, and others to raise funds for a variety of wartime charities. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 132 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | This was her most challenging project as head of the Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League
. She hoped a West End theatre would pick up the production, but none did. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 125 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | This organisation, still closely associated with the Actresses' Franchise League
, was responsible for staging at least 654 performances during the First World War. Musical and variety shows were the most popular events, but IB |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | After the war, the Actresses' Franchise League
lost its momentum and many of its members turned their attention to the British Drama League
and the founding of a National Theatre. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 135 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | At the beginning of the Second World War, IB
attempted to coordinate an operation similar to the one she organised with the Actresses' Franchise League
during the First World War providing entertainment for soldiers, but... |
| Occupation | Naomi Jacob | The Women's Emergency Corps
was founded by a group of women, including actresses Eva
and Decima Moore
and (according to Jacob) Gertrude Kingston
. Jacob's fellow volunteers there included Stella Benson
and Viola Meynell
.... |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | The Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League
, headed by IB
, held its first series of performances at a Votes for Women Exhibition at the Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 124 Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago, 1981. 63, 205 n20-1 |
| Occupation | Inez Bensusan | The Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League
, directed by IB
, helped to raise suffrage funds with matinees of short plays and sketches at the Kingsway
, Royalty
and Lyceum
theatres in London. Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol. 15 , June 1995, pp. 123-37. 124 |
| Performance of text | George Paston | The play was performed alongside Cicely Hamilton
's Pageant of Great Women as part of a fundraising event organised by Inez Bensusan
on behalf of the Actresses' Franchise League
and the Women Writers' Suffrage League |
| Performance of text | Evelyn Glover | The Actresses' Franchise League
produced Mrs. Appleyard's Awakening, a one-act play by EG
in which an Anti-Suffrage Society
campaigner accidentally converts her canvassee to the suffrage cause. |
| Performance of text | Cicely Hamilton | CH
's performance piece known as The Anti-Suffrage Waxworks was taken on tour by Edith Craig
for the Actresses' Franchise League
. Demastes, William W., and Katherine E. Kelly, editors. British Playwrights, 1880-1956. Greenwood Press, 1996. 193 Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998. 100 |
Timeline
10 December 1908: The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise...
National or international item
10 December 1908
The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise League
was held at the Criterion Restaurant in London.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
2
John, Angela V. Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life, 1862-1952. Routledge, 1995.
148
Hayman, Carole, and Dale Spender, editors. How the Vote Was Won: and Other Suffragette Plays. Methuen, 1985.
10-11
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
87
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
77-8
Theatre historian Sheila Stowell
notes that the League arose from recognising the propaganda...
May 1909: Gertrude Jennings's one-act suffrage play...
Women writers item
May 1909
Gertrude Jennings
's one-act suffrage play A Woman's Influence was performed at the Votes for Women Exhibition at the Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
53-4
Gale, Maggie B. West End Women: Women and the London Stage, 1918-1962. Routledge, 1996.
117
By 27 February 1911: The secretary of the Actresses' Franchise...
Building item
By 27 February 1911
The secretary of the Actresses' Franchise League
organised a feminist production of Wilde
's Salome (reviewed on this date).
Walkowitz, Judith R. “Women Writing / Women Performing in the Imperial Metropolis”. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers Conference, Lawrence, KS, 17 Mar. 2001.
From November 1914: The Actresses' Franchise League, led by Lena...
Building item
From November 1914
The Actresses' Franchise League
, led by Lena Ashwell
, organised entertainment for troops, first at English army bases and later in France; these eventually became known as Concerts at the Front.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
151-2
Early 1915: Lena Ashwell used her Actresses' Franchise...
Women writers item
Early 1915
Lena Ashwell
used her Actresses' Franchise League
connections to recruit the popular farce writer, Gertrude Jennings
, to write plays for Concerts at the Front.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Actresses’ Franchise League in Peace and War: 1913-1918”. New England Theatre Journal, Vol.
5
, 1994, pp. 35-49. 41-2
2 February 1927: Margaret Rhondda, as Chairman of the Equal...
National or international item
2 February 1927
Margaret Rhondda
, as Chairman of the Equal Political Rights Campaign Committee
, with many other suffrage veterans, signed a letter to the editor of The Times pressing for women to vote on equal terms...
Texts
Bensusan, Inez. The Apple. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.
Glover, Evelyn. A Chat with Mrs. Chicky. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.
Glover, Evelyn. Miss Appleyard’s Awakening. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.