Actresses' Franchise League

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Cultural formation Inez Bensusan
Little information is available about IB 's early life in Australia, before she emigrated to England and became active in the women's suffrage movement and the Actresses' Franchise League . Her family was part...
Employer Inez Bensusan
IB became manager of the Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League . In this position she mobilised writers to contribute plays to the suffrage cause.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
123-4
Family and Intimate relationships Madeleine Lucette Ryley
Madeleine (Roberts) Tearle , MLR 's niece, was a West End actress who used the stage name Jane Comfort.
Engle, Sherry D. New Women Dramatists in America, 1890-1920. Palgrave MacMilan, 2007.
92
Tearle began her acting career with the help of her aunt MLR after she...
Occupation Naomi Jacob
The Women's Emergency Corps was founded by a group of women, including actresses Eva and Decima Moore and (according to Jacob) Gertrude Kingston . Jacob's fellow volunteers there included Stella Benson and Viola Meynell ....
Occupation Inez Bensusan
The Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League , headed by IB , held its first series of performances at a Votes for Women Exhibition at the Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
124
Holledge, Julie. Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre. Virago, 1981.
63, 205 n20-1
Occupation Inez Bensusan
The Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League , directed by IB , helped to raise suffrage funds with matinees of short plays and sketches at the Kingsway , Royalty and Lyceum theatres in London.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
124
Occupation Inez Bensusan
Woman's Theatre Week, organised by IB under the auspices of the Actresses' Franchise League , was launched at the Coronet Theatre in London.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
125
Occupation Inez Bensusan
The Actresses' Franchise League launched the Woman's Theatre War Relief Matinees , a series of benefit performances organised by IB , Janette Steer , and others to raise funds for a variety of wartime charities.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
132
Occupation Inez Bensusan
This was her most challenging project as head of the Play Department of the Actresses' Franchise League . She hoped a West End theatre would pick up the production, but none did.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
125
Occupation Inez Bensusan
This organisation, still closely associated with the Actresses' Franchise League , was responsible for staging at least 654 performances during the First World War. Musical and variety shows were the most popular events, but IB
Occupation Inez Bensusan
After the war, the Actresses' Franchise League lost its momentum and many of its members turned their attention to the British Drama League and the founding of a National Theatre.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Woman’s Theatre in England: 1913-1918”. Theatre History Studies, Vol.
15
, June 1995, pp. 123-37.
135
Occupation Inez Bensusan
At the beginning of the Second World War, IB attempted to coordinate an operation similar to the one she organised with the Actresses' Franchise League during the First World War providing entertainment for soldiers, but...
Performance of text Cicely Hamilton
Later that year it toured provincial suffrage societies for the Actresses' Franchise League , under the direction of Edith Craig . It eventually became a staple piece for Craig's Pioneer Players .
Performance of text Cicely Hamilton
An earlier version involving tableaux had been given at Caxton Hall in February this year. The Scala production was sponsored by the Actresses' Franchise League . The cast included Ellen Terry , Lillah McCarthy ,...
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

Timeline

10 December 1908: The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise...

National or international item

10 December 1908

The inaugural meeting of the Actresses' Franchise League was held at the Criterion Restaurant in London.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
2
John, Angela V. Elizabeth Robins: Staging a Life, 1862-1952. Routledge, 1995.
148
Hayman, Carole, and Dale Spender, editors. How the Vote Was Won: and Other Suffragette Plays. Methuen, 1985.
10-11
Cockin, Katharine. Edith Craig (1869-1947): Dramatic Lives. Cassell, 1998.
87
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
77-8
Theatre historian Sheila Stowell notes that the League arose from recognising the propaganda...

May 1909: Gertrude Jennings's one-act suffrage play...

Women writers item

May 1909

Gertrude Jennings 's one-act suffrage play A Woman's Influence was performed at the Votes for Women Exhibition at the Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge.
Stowell, Sheila. A Stage of Their Own. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
53-4
Gale, Maggie B. West End Women: Women and the London Stage, 1918-1962. Routledge, 1996.
117

By 27 February 1911: The secretary of the Actresses' Franchise...

Building item

By 27 February 1911

The secretary of the Actresses' Franchise League organised a feminist production of Wilde 's Salome (reviewed on this date).
Walkowitz, Judith R. “Women Writing / Women Performing in the Imperial Metropolis”. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Women Writers Conference, Lawrence, KS, 17 Mar. 2001.

From November 1914: The Actresses' Franchise League, led by Lena...

Building item

From November 1914

The Actresses' Franchise League , led by Lena Ashwell , organised entertainment for troops, first at English army bases and later in France; these eventually became known as Concerts at the Front.
Whitelaw, Lis. The Life and Rebellious Times of Cicely Hamilton. Women’s Press, 1990.
151-2

Early 1915: Lena Ashwell used her Actresses' Franchise...

Women writers item

Early 1915

Lena Ashwell used her Actresses' Franchise League connections to recruit the popular farce writer, Gertrude Jennings , to write plays for Concerts at the Front.
Hirshfield, Claire. “The Actresses’ Franchise League in Peace and War: 1913-1918”. New England Theatre Journal, Vol.
5
, 1994, pp. 35-49.
41-2

2 February 1927: Margaret Rhondda, as Chairman of the Equal...

National or international item

2 February 1927

Margaret Rhondda , as Chairman of the Equal Political Rights Campaign Committee , with many other suffrage veterans, signed a letter to the editor of The Times pressing for women to vote on equal terms...

Texts

Bensusan, Inez. The Apple. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.
Glover, Evelyn. A Chat with Mrs. Chicky. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.
Glover, Evelyn. Miss Appleyard’s Awakening. Actresses’ Franchise League, 1912.