Read and Rant (8/17)

Read & Rant is Athena Project’s new book club exploring plays written primarily by women. Read one or two scripts or ancillary materials during the month and meet every third Monday online via Zoom, to discuss the works. Share what makes a good script; how it affects us and how it links to the larger world. Converse with invited guests who bring an in-depth knowledge base. Our monthly free offerings to the community aim to raise awareness of the underrepresentation of women’s stories on stage.

The conversation this month will focus on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, as well as the internal struggles faced within the women’s suffrage movement as the 15th amendment was passed (1870 – a citizen has the right to vote regardless of that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”).  This conversation will be brought through the past to the present in three ways:  the play script, Four Women Talking About the Man Under the Sheet, by Elaine Jarvik, an essay on African American suffragist, Elizabeth Piper Ensley, and a pictorial walk through a Colorado timeline of suffrage (Saluting 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage). Our invited guests are Sylvia Lambe, author of the essay and Beth Barela, Executive Director of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

Materials:

1. Four Women Talking About the Man Under the Sheet by Elaine Jarvik
2. Elizabeth Piper Ensley and the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment by Sylvia Lambe
3. Saluting 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage – by Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame

Guests:

• Sylvia Lambe, Author of the essay
• Beth Barela, Executive Director of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame

Facilitator:

Darce Beck

QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION:

• What compromises should one make in pursuit of a cause, if any?” 

• A dramaturg learns as much as possible about a script: its structure, background, language,  themes, etc., and shares that with the company. What facts or thoughts would you share with the company?

• How will you acknowledge the centennial of women’s suffrage?

OBTAINING THE SCRIPTS: 

The materials will be available after you complete the registration at Eventbrite. You will gain access to the specific links to this month’s material by registering for the event here:

Please be sure to check your Eventbrite confirmation email for the Zoom link to join this month’s meeting as well as the links to this month’s material.

FOLLOWING THIRD MONDAY READ & RANTS of 2020
September 21, October 19, November 16