Suffrage drama was a rich theatrical genre alive with political potential during the campaign for women’s suffrage. On the suffrage centenary on 6th February, the Staging Suffrage team (current Drama students led by Rebecca McCutcheon, David Bullen and Nicola Hewitt-George) revived excerpts from these plays in sites that still resonate with the cause 100 years on, across Royal Holloway’s campus, and the local areas of Egham and Englefield Green, re-connecting place, memory, and politics for 21st century audiences.
Royal Holloway worked with photographers from Getty Images, Press Association, the BBC and the Daily Express to generate coverage of the Staging Suffrage march from Egham Station to the campus. Pictures of our students in costume appeared on BBC Online, TIME magazine, The Times, the Sunday Post, and as one of the Guardian’s photos of the day. Other publications, including The Washington Post, multiple local papers like the Birmingham Post who ran one as their photo of the day, and the Daily Express, also used the photos.
The Exhibition and Royal Holloway’s suffrage links generally were reported on across Bauer media’s radio output (collectively over 20 radio stations), and their respective social media channels to tie in with the anniversary. Other mentions of the College connected us to Emily Wilding Davison, including Clare Balding's Secrets Of A Suffragette, which was partially filmed at Royal Holloway and broadcast on Channel 4 on 6 February. Sky News, Press Association (republished by Silver Surfers and several local newspapers) and the BBC also linked the College to Davison.
BBC Surrey also posted the following video on their Facebook page.
