FOURTH WAVE THEATRE’S "ON ACCOUNT OF SEX." TELLS THE HISTORY OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
The new musical about the women’s suffrage movement “On Account of Sex.” will premiere at the Kansas City Fringe Festival starting July 21, 2023. Written by Fringe veterans Bryan Colley and Tara Varney, this unconventional exploration of women’s history is filled with humor, inspiration, and songs of the 19th and early 20th century.
Meet the women who persisted for over seventy years to add four words to the Constitution: “On Account of Sex.” Seven leaders of the women’s suffrage movement relate their struggles, triumphs, and failures, beginning with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and ending with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote.
“On Account of Sex.” features music performed by Tim Gillespie, stars Claudia Copping, Caroline Dawson, Rita Hanch, and Dianna Royer, and is directed by Tara Varney. There will be five performances at the Center for Spiritual Living, 1014 W 39th Street, on the following dates:
- 9:00pm Friday, July 21
- 6:00pm Saturday, July 22
- 3:00pm Sunday, July 23
- 9:00pm Thursday, July 27
- 7:30pm Saturday, July 29
Adult tickets are $12.00, children 12 and under are $7.00. A $5.00 Fringe Festival button is required to purchase tickets. Buttons are available at the box office and are free for children. Tickets are also available online at kcfringe.org.
ABOUT THE PLAY
The 19th Amendment states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” It took seventy years of constant and challenging activism to give women the right to vote throughout the United States.
The play follows seven leading figures in the suffrage movement: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Alice Stone Blackwell, and Alice Paul. These women traversed the country and led national campaigns to win voting rights in the states, and the play highlights their efforts to win legal battles, challenge naysayers, and pass the torch to the next generation. When they ultimately confront the president of the United States, they are faced with abuse, imprisonment, and forced feedings until they are finally triumphant in passing an amendment.
Throughout the play there are period songs that bring the era to life, many of them popular tunes of the day with lyrics tailored to the suffrage cause, and many of them quite humorous. These include “The March of the Women,” “Let Us All Speak Our Minds,” “Daughters of Freedom,” “Keep Women in Her Sphere,” and “Song of the Harassed Man Voter.”
“On Account of Sex.” was originally intended to be produced in 2020 for the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, but the live Fringe Festival was canceled due to the pandemic. An online reading of the play was recorded for the August 18, 2020 anniversary of the amendment, and we’re excited to finally be able to produce the full production live on stage as intended.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Bryan Colley and Tara Varney have written and produced multiple plays at the Kansas City Fringe Festival since 2008, including such popular shows as Khaaaaan! The Musical, Sexing Hitler, Red Death, Voyage to Voyager, and most recently Fringeprov. Tara Varney is a theater teacher at the Kansas City Academy. Bryan Colley is a graphic designer with the American Academy of Family Physicians and is on the board of the Midwest Dramatists Center.
ABOUT FOURTH WAVE THEATRE
Fourth Wave Theatre was created to push a “radical feminist agenda” with provocative plays about women’s equality, empowerment, and intersectionality. Their previous productions include the comedy Lingerie Shop at the Kansas City Fringe Festival in 2009.