Kay Rouse
Votes for Women! - Deeds Not Words
 |
|
As promises of progress on the Vote were endlessly shelved or broken, disillusioned women joined more radical groups such as the Womens Social & Political Union (WSPU) whose slogan was 'Deeds Not Words' Some engaged in a programme of civil disobedience and demonstration - even violence - to highlight their cause. Miss Rouse and Mrs Gilkes belong to this militant faction.
|
In addition to the unauthorised advertisement of meetings and distribution of unsettling political leaflets - to the startled public - the women intend to invade public buildings to forcibly make their point.
Passers-by may be asked directly if, when and where they have seen Miss Rouse and Mrs Gilkes, or else be confronted by the plainclothes detective, Inspector Corner, who witheringly makes comparisons with his wanted photographs. Some people will be all too pleased to point the women out, while others will make the decision to tell glaringly obvious lies.
This is an interpretation designed to gradually enlist public participation whether as supporters of or as informants against the women:
One way or another the resourceful pair will usually get away, so the scene can be re-set and replayed throughout an event either at the same or various close locations.
Games
Games Workshops can include some earlier activities but also feature games very specific to the political flavour of the time - which particularly offer an insight into the way the campaign for women's suffrage was seen at the time:
|
Suffragettes In & Out of Prison - originally a newspaper giveaway - features a maze through which players help or hinder prisoners in their escape from Holloway. Our recreation of the card game Panko pits women against police and the legal system. We do also have a selection of both mainstream traditional wooden toys and boardgames. |
 |
Eye Magic! & Camera Obscura
 |
Our range of optical gadgets, gizmos and toys for hands-on visitor enjoyment expands: Here a pair of stereoscopes complete with original stereoviews - our huge collection shows scenes from the Boer War, outposts of Empire and exotic foreign travels. |
 |
This
full size walk in tented installation can cater for up to a dozen
visitors and be sited either pegged on soft ground or set up on hard
standing. Shown here in campaigning guise (!) the Camera Obscura is equally at home in the more genteel setting of an Edwardian garden party |
 |
