Votes for Women performance KS3/4 Information for teachers 1 Emmeline Pankhurst addressing crowds at Trafalgar Square, 1908. Frequently asked questions Listed below are frequently asked questions about the Votes for Women ‘at your school’ performance. If you have a question that isn’t answered below, you can email the Museum of London’s secondary schools team via
[email protected] Can you tell me more about the performance? To commemorate the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, we’ve created an assembly to be performed to whole year groups, showcasing the remarkable women and men who campaigned tirelessly for voting rights to be changed. The assembly uses a ‘play within a play’ construct. Shelley is a school girl from London who plays a young Victorian servant, Maisie, in her school’s play on women’s suffrage. The play follows both Shelley (in the modern day) and her character Maisie (in Victorian London). As Shelley and the cast rehearse the play, we learn about the other characters. In addition to her school play, Shelley has to deal with pressures from her friends and family many of which are issues facing young women today. Whilst rehearsing the play she learns to balance those relationships. Votes for Women performance KS3/4 Information for teachers 2 Is there anything else we should know? The beginning of the play explores what life was like for poor women in Victorian London through the character of Maisie. This includes reference to the historical practice of baby farming – because of her social status Maisie’s only option is to give up her (illegitimate) baby.