Battle for suffrage

Puritan actress full of emotion during the play that honored the women throughout history. (Photo by Niko LaBarbera)

Saddleback College Women’s and Gender Studies Advisory Committee, ASG and SMART Theatre Production brought the amazing play, “We Did It For You” to campus. This adventure through the history of American women was a perfect way for Saddleback to bring awareness as well as to celebrate women’s history month.

As the 2016 presidential elections get closer, more women than ever are reaching towards the top spot in our government, President of the United States. This play gave a glimpse into the history which made this possible.

“We Did It For You” was written by Dr. Thea Lberall, and is performed by many others, all of which are volunteers. For the last five years this program has traveled all over Southern California, mostly to high schools and colleges.

“We do workshops in colleges and discus the script in depth,” Lberall said. “The play can only touch on a small portion of the history.”

It was first written for the Women’s Journey Conference in 2010; however, Lberall has a much larger goal.

“We want to perform at the White House,” Lberal said.

The play itself started with college student Melanie (played by Deana Kenney) having a conversation on a cell phone, complaining about her homework. This is when women visit her from the past. Lilly LedBetter (played by Mary Grace Carpenter) was the first and she basically narrated the rest of the play.

Same actress playing a women’s equality activist. (Photo by Niko LaBarbera)

The play hit many of the main women in history, such as Anne Hutchinson, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Sandra Day O’Connor and Hilary Clinton. All these women visited Melanie (Deana Kenney), each telling a story about the struggles they had fighting for women’s rights.

Many of the topics that these women disused were: the 19th Amendment, birth control, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Organization of Women.

During the performance there was a consent list scrolling behind the stage with a list of important women in American history. “We Did It For You” did not miss much, and the lyrical wittiness of the songs performed were awesome.

“They stuffed a lot of amazing information into this show,” Nolan Matter political science and history student, 21, said.  “It gave a glimpse and a deeper in depth look at what these women did for our history. One of the most important things this play did, is portray the importance of women of all ages to get involve in government.”

In the end, Melanie decides that she wants to study politics and in the future, run for President. An ending that revealed Women’s history is still being written today. “Women rights are human rights.”

Comments

comments