The cast requires four women. The running time is approximately 75 minutes, but can be trimmed to 60 minutes. Suitable for all ages, and ideal for middle/high school audiences. Performance royalties are negotiable.
Download the script
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, failures, and triumphs, beginning with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and ending with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, when women won the right to vote. This unconventional exploration of women’s history is filled with humor, inspiration, and songs of the 19th and early 20th century.
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.