SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES Tours Throughout Women's History Month
By: Harmony Wheeler Feb. 20, 2012
One hundred years ago, a now-forgotten Progressive named Marie Jenney Howe penned a no-longer-forgotten playlet for the drama group of the New York City Woman Suffrage Party. A century later-in this fraught election year-Howe's "An Anti-Suffrage Monologue" celebrates its 200th performance. Revived as Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Satire, the "Monologue" has been performed from Texas to Connecticut, Delaware to Wisconsin-exclusively by Michèle LaRue, a professional actress who specializes in earlier American works.
Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Satire was conceived and directed by the late Warren Kliewer. Dishes began touring in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment for Woman Suffrage, under the banner of The East Lynne Company, founded by Kliewer to revive earlier American plays and literature. LaRue continues to tour Dishes under the aegis of the Cape May – based East Lynne Theater Company.
In 1912-eight years before Woman Suffrage finally was achieved-many females still opposed getting the vote. They cited obstacles ranging from unsavory polling places to their own small brains and "delicate nervous organization." In her "Monologue," Howe gleefully deflated these arguments, exposing the the Antis' illogic. Today most of those arguments sound ludicrous, but LaRue's own post-performance lecture puts them in historical context, inviting lively audience discussion.
"It's so hard to choose a favorite line," says LaRue, clearly still enchanted by the material and her character. "I think of her as a cheerleader for The Cause; she can't imagine anyone not being Anti. She dotes on her husband and reveres his every word: his opinions go in one ear … and out her mouth, without stumbling over gray matter. She proudly puts opposite arguments in couplets, helpfully explaining to her audience that 'If you don't like one, you can take the other!' "
LaRue tours Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Satire throughout Women's History Month-in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois. Subsequent bookings include Massachusetts and Texas.
Photo Credit: Ken Smith at Quiet Heart Images
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Wednesday, February 29, 6 p.m.
EVE'S DIARY
Elmwood Park Library
210 Lee Street
Elmwood Park, New Jersey 07407
Reservations: 201-796-8888
Monday, March 5, 3:30 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
College of Staten Island/CUNY (cosponsored by the Campus Activities Board & the Pluralism and Diversity Dept.)
New York
Reservations: mlrprods@aol.com
Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 P.M.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Wilton Public Library (cosponsored by Wilton League of Women Voters)
137 Old Ridgefield Road
Wilton, Connecticut 06897
Reservations: 203-762-3950
Sunday, March 11, 3 p.m.
TALES WELL TOLD: WOMEN BREAKING LOOSE
Fanwood Memorial Library
14 Tillotson Road
Fanwood, New Jersey 07023
Reservations: 908-322-6400
Saturday, March 17, 1:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Somers Library
82 Primrose Street Katonah, New York 10536
Reservations: 914-232-5717
Thursday, March 22, 7:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Poplar Creek Library
1405 Park Avenue
Streamwood, IL 60107
Reservations: 630-837-6800
Saturday, March 24, 2:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Bloomingdale Public Library (cosponsored by Bloomingdale Historical Society)
101 Fairfield Way
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Reservations: 630-924-2735
Sunday, March 25, 2:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Wauconda Area Library
801 N. Main Street
Wauconda, IL 60084
Reservations: 847-526-6225
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
Orland Park Public Library
14921 Ravinia Ave. Orland Park IL 60462
Reservations: 708-428-5114
Thursday, April 19, 7:30 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
The Brookfield Library (cosponsored by the League of Women Voters)
182 Whisconier Road
Brookfield, Connecticut 06804
Reservations: 203-775-6241
Thursday, April 12, 4:45 pm
TALES WELL TOLD: FISH OUT OF WATER
Popular/American Culture Associations-annual conference
Boston Marriott Copley Place
110 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachussetts 02116
Reservations: mlrprods@aol.com
Sunday, April 22, 2:00 p.m.
SOMEONE MUST WASH THE DISHES: AN ANTI-SUFFRAGE SATIRE
John C. Hart Memorial Library
1130 East Main Street
Shrub Oak, New York 10588
Reservations: 914-245-5262
Wednesday, May 16, 7 p.m.
TALES WELL TOLD: ACCIDENTAL HOLIDAYS
Randolph Township Free Public Library
28 Calais Road
Randolph, New Jersey 07869
Reservations: 973-895-3556
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