How ‘Suffs’ Continues Musical Theatre’s Tradition of Illuminating History
Shaina Taub as Alice Paul in Suffs. Photo by Joan Marcus
Directors
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Written by and starring singer-songwriter-actor Shaina Taub as Alice Paul, Suffs has been a decade in the making. The project was sparked by producer Rachel Sussman giving Taub a copy of Doris Stephens’ Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote, the only firsthand account of the movement. Silverman signed on in 2016 and the musical had its world premiere at The Public Theater in 2022. The buzzy run sold out and audiences were enthralled, though some critics less so. Over the past two years, Taub and Silverman have made significant and savvy changes to the show, both in the writing (there are many fresh songs, including new opening and closing numbers) and direction (the pacing is quicker, the tone less didactic), and they’re collaborating with a new choreographer and design team. In this incarnation, the story of these suffragists—who not only battled a sexist society but also each other across generational and racial divides—is clearer and more stirring.
Grace McLean, who plays President Woodrow Wilson, the suffragists’ main foe, also knew next to nothing about the movement before being cast in the show. “I remember Mrs. Winifred Banks singing ‘Sister Suffragette’ in the Mary Poppins movie,” she says. “I only found out doing Suffs that British women got the vote before American women did!”
Like Taub, McLean is a singer-songwriter-actor who created and starred in a musical about a historical figure: In the Green told the origin story of real-life saint Hildegard von Bingen, one of the Middle Ages’ most influential women. “I wanted to take a literal saint and situate her in history in a way that speaks to the present moment,” McLean says. “And that’s very much what’s happening with Suffs as well. It’s so important for us to be able to see and experience our collective history in a way that makes it feel close to us.”
While Silverman hopes audiences of all generations, genders and backgrounds appreciate Suffs, she is particularly enthusiastic about younger theatregoers attending the show. “Suffs will hopefully do the thing that musicals can do for total theatre nerds, which is teach you something about life and history,” she says. “I think about the generation of kids who grew up listening to Hamilton before they’d ever taken an American history class. That’s the way we get information. I’m excited that for many people, the first time they hear these women’s names will be in our theatre looking at these incredible actors.”
For those eager to learn more, the show’s website has an education page with a timeline of the 70-year struggle to win the vote, plus book and documentary recommendations.
And, of course, given the state of the world, Silverman and her collaborators hope Suffs inspires an interest in activism, too. “In our current day, we hear all the time about women’s rights being rolled back, that we are facing all of these obstacles,” she says. “And yet, we have the story of the suffragists, who, during harder times with less available to them, were able to make change.” Now it’s time for a new generation to, as Alice Paul sings in Suffs, “finish the fight.”
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Suffs is frequently available at our TKTS Booths.