New arts project celebrating the Great 1913 Suffrage Pilgrimage asks: ‘what are the important issues for women today?’
The centenary of a historic women’s rights march from Land’s End to London will be celebrated through June and July by an ambitious project called Dreadnought South West, which will feature a touring production of a new play, Oxygen, by Exeter-based playwright Natalie McGrath, as well as a series of responding arts and heritage events and commemorative land journeys. The project has been made possible through generous public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as support from Exeter City Council.
In June 1913, a group of women started walking from Land’s End in Cornwall on a route to Hyde Park in London. They wanted to end child poverty, to stop the white slave trade and to end sweated labour – but they knew they couldn’t do this without the right to vote. Carrying a banner that read ‘Land’s End to London’, they started walking, recruiting more women along the way; they connected up with groups walking from other parts of the country and by the time they all reached and gathered at their destination on 26 July, their number had swelled to 75,000.
Beginning at Land’s End on 19 June, Dreadnought South West will follow the route taken by the women 100 years ago, performing Oxygen in full and in episode form at many of the original stopping places, with a final performance at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond on 20 July. Waymarker projects and arts events, which have been inspired by the project and its celebration of the pilgrimage, will take place across the South West region. There will also be a series of land journeys, organised by independent groups, as well as discussions and debates.
Val Wilson, City Arts and Events Manager for Exeter City Council, said: “The City Council is pleased to support a high-quality project written and produced by a city-based playwright and director. Dreadnought South West is a project that is inspired by the past but so relevant to the present and will reach out to so many people on its journey to London.”
As well as commemorating the courage of all those who took part in the pilgrimage, Dreadnought South West seeks to raise awareness of the fact that the core reasons driving the fight for women to gain the vote in 1913 concern issues that remain relevant today.
Playwright Natalie McGrath said: “The organisers of the original pilgrimage – 15 women – met in Leeds in April 1913, and mapped routes from eight locations, drawing supporters from everywhere. Some could only walk for a day or half a day, but they participated, and they demanded to be heard. By creating those routes, they connected the country, which has a resonance in terms of people power. One of our desires with Dreadnought South West is to connect the region and we’ve done that by creating a theatre tour that no one has ever done before.” Natalie added: “Dreadnought South West is interested in exploring the suffrage campaign in relation to the contemporary social, economic and political position of women today – as well as current modes of, and attitudes to, public protest.”
This project is the first from Exeter-based Dreadnought South West Association, a new organisation that engages with heritage and the arts to champion women’s voices and stories.
Oxygen performances in Exeter:
4 July, 3pm & 7pm, £10/£7. Rougemont Gardens, Exeter.
Tickets: www.dreadnoughtsouthwest.org.uk
5 July, 7.30pm, £12/£8. Barnfield Theatre, Exeter.
Tickets: www.barnfieldtheatre.com, 01392 270891
