Australian Suffrage Theatre With Particular Reference to Inez Bensusan and Miles Franklin

Abstract

Australia led most of the world in the achievement of womanhood suffrage and Australian cultural history reflects this ambition is and progressive atmosphere. The impressive achievements of suffrage feminists in Australian theatre, however, is an untold story, as is their contribution as expatriates to the development of international women's theatre of this time. This thesis aims to bring these experiences and experiments to the notice of world theatre and feminist history, in particular through the stories of the theatrical careers of Inez Isabel Bensusan and Stella Miles Franklin. Chosen because of their expatriate involvement in the women's movement at the beginning of this century, their international profile as Australian women who had the vote, and their exceptional contribution to both the development of Australian drama and international feminist theatre, Franklin and Bensusan characterise the energies of Australian suffrage playwrights. The main argument of this thesis is that Australian feminist theatre practitioners played a significant role in the development of early feminist theatre one that has been largely unrecognised. Other examples to support this inquiry include Katharine Susannah Prichard, Adela Pankhurst, New Woman playwrights, and the theatrical endeavours of women university students during the suffrage era. Recognising that all struggle for female self-representation in and through the theatre takes part in historical circumstances, this thesis pays close attention not only to written texts, but also to the dramatic, political, and personal negotiations in which these women were involved in their daily lives. Australian suffrage playwrights emerge from this study as exceptional feminists, expatriates, and theatre workers, and this has considerable implications for both Australian theatre historiography and international feminist dramatic criticism.