Inez Bensusan

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Standard Name: Bensusan, Inez
Birth Name: Inez Bensusan
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.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Textual Production Elizabeth Baker
The 1930 Players were a group organized by Inez Bensusan , an Australian-born actress and playwright who had been instrumental in forming the Actresses' Franchise League . Penelope Forgives was never published, but a typescript...
Reception George Paston
During the war this play became popular with British troops through the auspices of Woman's Theatre Camp Entertainments , an organization formed by Inez Bensusan after the demise of Actresses' Franchise League .
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, pp. 123-37.
131
Publishing Emmuska, Baroness Orczy
This volume carried end-pages of publisher's advertisements for other novels including many by women: Ruby M. Ayres , Inez Bensusan , Marjorie Bowen , Richmal Crompton , Berta Ruck , and O. Douglas (sister of John Buchan).
Emmuska, Baroness Orczy,. Blue Eyes and Grey. Hodder and Stoughton.
end pages
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
EG 's spirited one-act suffrage play A Chat with Mrs. Chicky was performed at the Rehearsal Theatre in London, with Inez Bensusan in the title role.
Theatre historian Julie Holledge mentions an earlier performance...
Performance of text Evelyn Glover
The play's vivid characters and snappy dialogue, alongside its minimal staging requirements, made it one of the most popular plays in the AFL's suffrage repertoire.
Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago.
88
That year, the Connoisseurs theatre group mounted a production...
Literary responses Evelyn Glover
The Times correspondent who reviewed the Cologne production praised Inez Bensusan for her direction of the capital programme as well as for her excellent acting in EG 's play.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(16 May 1919): 11
Intertextuality and Influence Beatrice Harraden
BH 's one-act suffrage play Lady Geraldine's Speech was printed in Votes for Women; she had been persuaded to write it by Inez Bensusan .
Crawford, Elizabeth. The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928. Routledge.
276
Hayman, Carole, and Dale Spender, editors. How the Vote Was Won: and Other Suffragette Plays. Methuen.
91

Timeline

No timeline events available.

Texts

Bensusan, Inez. “Letter to the Editor: Concerts for the Troops”. Times, p. 4.
Bensusan, Inez. The Apple. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.
Bensusan, Inez. “The Apple”. How the Vote Was Won: and Other Suffragette Plays, edited by Dale Spender and Carole Hayman, Methuen, 1985, pp. 139-54.