How the Vote was Won – Zoom Reading

After the roaring success of our first online play reading, The Regina Monologues, last month, YSCP are back for more! We’re looking to cast 2 men and 6 women for a reading of the brilliantly witty Suffragette play, How the Vote Was Won (details about how to get involved below), which will take place on Zoom on Friday 30 April at 7.30pm.

This event is free and open to all.

About the Play
A brilliant ensemble piece, this short Suffragette play is set in the living room of Horace and Ethel Cole in Brixton, London, on the day of a general women’s strike called by Suffragettes because the Government has said that women do not need votes as they are all looked after by men. All the women who have previously supported themselves agree to leave their jobs and homes and instead insist on support from their nearest male relative.

As Horace’s female relatives arrive at his house one after the other, he comes to realize something must be done and rushes to Parliament, along with all the other men in London, to demand “Votes for Women” as soon as possible.’

Packed with witty lines and hilarious observations.

Cast (2 male, 8 female with 2 parts doubling up)

• Horace Cole (a clerk, about 30, an English master in his own home).
• Ethel (his wife, 22, a pretty, fluffy little woman who could never be bad-tempered, but might be fretful).
• Winifred (her sister, a tall, distinguished-looking young woman with a cheerful, capable manner and an emphatic diction which betrays the public speaker). Part doubles up with Molly.
• Agatha Cole (Horace’s sister, a weary-looking woman of about 35).
• Molly (his niece, a good-looking young girl of about 20). Part doubles up with Winifred.
• Madam Christine (his distant relation, about 40, manners elegant, smile charming, speech resolute).
• Maudie Spark (his first cousin, a young woman with an aggressively cheerful manner, a voice raucous from much bellowing of music hall songs). Part doubles up with Lily.
• Miss Lizzie Wilkins (his aunt, a comfortable, middle-aged body of a type well known to those who live in the less fashionable quarter of Bloomsbury).
• Lily (his maid-of-all-work). Part doubles up with Maudie Spark.
• Gerald Williams (his neighbour, a smug young man stiff with self-consciousness).

How to get involved
Want to read one of the eight parts? Great! We’d love you to record a short excerpt from the part you’d like to play. All eight excerpts can be viewed here.

You can film yourself or just record your voice, and you don’t have to learn the lines. We’d just like to see how you’d play the part. Please send in your recording to yorksettlementcommunityplayers@gmail.com by Monday 19 April (you can use WeTransfer if the file is really big). We’ll take a look at all the submissions then let you know by Friday 23 April who our cast will be.

If you’re interested in being a virtual audience member, please email Helen Wilson at helensallywilson@aol.com.