Tuesday, August 27, 2024
'Suffs' Celebrates 51 Years of Women's Equality Day
Ms. Magazine: Aug. 26 is Women’s Equality Day—a day to pay tribute to the hard-won fight for women’s suffrage and ratification of the 19th Amendment. The brainchild of Bella Abzug, formidable feminist organizer and federal lawmaker from New York, the holiday was proposed in 1971, and in 1973 Abzug pressed Congress to pass a joint resolution creating a national holiday.
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Art is so often at the forefront of political or social issues that it’s easy to forget how important art is to the surrounding community. Suffs is one of those shows that I believe everyone should see once or maybe even twice. I have been dying to see it since it came out and am so thankful that the producers and theatre makers have used their platform to promote and recognize history in the making. The fact that Hillary Clinton quoted the show in her speech at the DNC this past month and that the When We all Vote initiative has been able to promote and help patrons register to vote is inspiring to see. Often when we make theatre we get so caught up in the why and the how that it’s easy to forget how the story or the concept may move people and promote change in the community. To use a platform such as theatre to promote such a historic event as 51 years of Women’s quality and the first ever woman running for president is something that I am proud to be able to witness.
The power of theater to bring awareness to a cause never surprises me. Think about how Hamilton caused an entire generation of high schoolers to pay attention in history class, or how Cabaret showed the dangers of propaganda in 1930s Berlin—and with Suffs, history is being used to urge audiences to vote and stand with women. Last season, over twelve million people went to see a Broadway show. With an award-winning book and a message on women’s rights that feels extremely topical today, Suffs is in a powerful position to help advocate for voting in the upcoming election. At the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton (a Suffs co producer) gave a speech on progress in the nation to the tune of “Keep Marching” from the musical’s soundtrack. I think it’s funny how musicals are often pushed aside as spectacle and fluff when, really, they can be extremely topical to what's happening in current events and even impact the current political climate.
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