ONWARD--VOTES FOR WOMEN: World Premiere Documentary to Play One Night Only

The Associates of the Boston Public Library announces the world premiere of ONWARD - VOTES FOR WOMEN, a documentary play honoring the fight for women's suffrage, created by Lisa Rafferty, with music arranged and composed by Adam R. McDonald. The second annual event in the Pierce Performance Series,

ONWARD celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, enabling women to vote. The production offers the powerful, inspiring voices and perspectives of the extraordinary women who fought for 70 years for equality. Nearly two dozen historical characters from the movement, along with women leaders from our time, will be portrayed by an ensemble of ten for one performance only on Thursday, March 19 at 6:30pm at Boston Public Library's Rabb Hall. The performance is free to the public with reservation by visiting https://onwardvotes.eventbrite.com.

The cast, featuring many renowned members of the Boston arts community, will play multiple roles, including known suffragists and women leaders including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Alice Paul, Mary Church Terrell, Louisa May Alcott, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Ford, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem. The script was created using verbatim language from historic documents in the Boston Public Library's Special Collection, and other speeches, letters, articles and interviews from a variety of sources. Suffrage music and songs will be interspersed throughout the production, along with an original score.

Playwright, director, producer Lisa Rafferty creates documentary plays which celebrate the strength and resiliency of heroic women and men including SHE DID ALL THAT - Betty Ford: Speaking Out, Saving about the unforgettable First Lady; THE LEGACY OF WELLES REMY CROWTHER: The Man in the Red Bandanna, about the young man who died saving others on 9/11; and the world premiere of Boston Theater Company's FINISH LINE, about the 2013 Boston Marathon, with Joey Frangieh. Her comedies - The MOMologues (1, 2 and 3), published by Samuel French, have appeared in 26 states and six countries. She is the recipient of the Mass General Hospital's the one hundred award for writing a comedy about breast cancer with other survivors, titled Pink Ribbon Overdose. Lisa is the producing director of the Elliot Norton Awards and teaches theater at Bridgewater State University. www.birchtreeproductions.company