I ruddy love playing politicians, me. I also love playing police as part of the old immersive (see profile pic above right {or
this}) and over the weekend I was lucky enough to do both as part of
Story Spinner's interventions and rally celebrating the centenary of Women's Suffrage at the
Museum of London. The whole event was incredibly well attended, and I got to see what the City gets up to before noon, which is pretty much exactly what I expected:
We had to write our own speeches for the rally, which was great because I really hadn't done any paid writing at all last year. The first character given to me was
"an anti-women’s suffrage politician, of the Liberal persuasion. They
were not anti the idea women’s suffrage per se
, but worried that women
would vote Tory and boot them out..." which of course they then did. This made for a great jumping off point in the current climate of Brexit and Trump, and
I loved performing the speech in front of families all waiting for something to boo.
Here's a little clip of it posted on twitter, and here's the whole thing:
Thank you for inviting me to speak. I will
open my address, if I may, by saying something that may shock you:
I want a fairer society for all.
Why then do I wish to deny women The Vote, lovely as that might sound? Well,
by way of an answer I would like, if you will indulge me, to tell you a fairy
tale... Imagine a utopia, a world in which every citizen were indeed allowed to vote. One
day a proposition is put to these lucky inhabitants and it is this: If passed
by a majority - if more than half the inhabitants vote in favour - these voters will be allowed to banish everyone who voted against the proposition, and take all of their belongings. Now even if voted for, would that be fair? Of course not. So why would anyone vote for such a proposition?
Would it not only be because these voters have as yet no understanding of the responsibility of their vote? No experience of the wider
workings of civilization, of the Greater World, of... Society? No ambition beyond their
own immediate domestic sphere, their own home?
And am I not now describing a woman?
I say to you that women should not be allowed the vote until it is clear that they know what to do with it. Now you may find me terribly patronizing for
arguing as I do… a silly fool, an overbearing jackass. But I would ask you… indeed
I would beg you ladies… beg you to consider how far, far more overbearing a
tyrant you could face if the job of electing him was suddenly given to those
who, by your own argument, have never
known freedom. Once you are free, then you can vote. That must be the rule. We have all had too
strong a taste of the terror and chaos wrought by any other argument. Though
your intentions are good, the road to Hell is - as we know - paved with good intentions, and
there is driving these protests something sinister that you might not yet see. But I can. As a Liberal I refuse to believe that any civilization can be made healthier letting
its course be decided by those who plant bombs, attack the police, and throw
themselves under horses. And I see no reason to think that future generations of women, with clearer heads, might disagree.
Thank you for listening.
Basically last weekend
The second brief was, well...
"Second character is a little more tricky. He is an early ‘90s ‘New Man’
type, bit tree hugger-ish, bit trustafarian, who works for Amnesty, but
we don't want to take the piss out of him (!). His angle is that
although women in our country by then are relatively
free and equal, around the world, many are still enslaved, (bearing in
mind that the audience are 10 + and most likely there will be younger
ones)." So... something simple and vague but heartfelt and from the nineties. I decided to make him a performance poet, and wrote this to cleanse the pallet:
The first International Women’s Day
Was observed in Russia in 1913,
By textile workers. And who could have foreseen
The revolution set rolling: The Vote, Equal
Pay,
And what were their weapons? Ideas.
Not violence.
And how far we’ve come thanks to those who
fought
And marched and shouted and gave no thought
To the men – mainly men - who wanted them silenced.
So I’m here to say thank you but also:
Let’s listen…
For the world’s getting smaller now, but
louder
And as we head towards the new millennium
Let’s celebrate all that these women have
done
And say: yes, we couldn’t be prouder
But also –
No, and
also–
Let’s listen…
Because there are still women now, women today
Women alive now in lands far away
Not given their say
Over how they should marry
Not given their say in the children they
carry,
Or where they can move, Or what they can
learn,
What jobs they can hold, what money they’ll
earn.
Around the world women are still crying out
So let’s listen to their stories, join in their shout.
Listen to the world, add our voices to
theirs
To the women of the world, not just
thoughts and prayers
But – Yes, thoughts and prayers -
But also arms! Mouths! Ears!
Demonstrate! Remonstrate! Until the whole world hears:
It’s International Women’s Day
Every Day!
Every Day!
International Women’s Day
Until every
woman is given a say!
There are still ideas out there that still
need defeating
So the message of this movement still bears
repeating:
It’s International Women’s Day
Every Day!
Every Day!
International Women’s Day
Until every
woman is given a say!
Until all of the planet’s saying “Nowhere
to hide!
All those who oppress, it’s the end of the
ride!”
And a better world’s waiting if we listen
to this one
Already made better by what women have
done.
Angels
Thanks to Beccy and Georgia for inviting me aboard, and to Jo "Annie" Bowis (left) and Grace Brightwell for letting me tear down their posters and chase them round the Millennium Cauldron. Here's Al Jazeera:
P.S. I'd forgotten that I found this while staying at my parents' over Christmas: "Pank-A-Squith", the contemporaneous Suffragette Board Game!
