Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center Announces Outdoor Production of TENNESSEE WOMEN FOR THE VOTE

Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center, a nonprofit theatre company dedicated to diverse stories and casts, is thrilled to return to the stage for the first time since February in a socially-distanced, outdoor production of Tennessee Women for the Vote.

The play, by B. Ayne Cantrell, is based on real speeches by suffragist leaders and their opponents in Tennessee. The play is set at a rally on June 25, 1920, one hundred years ago and fifty-four days before the Tennessee General Assembly voted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. These rousing speeches are particularly timely now as we approach a presidential election and commemorate the centennial of the amendment that prohibited states from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex. While the Nineteenth Amendment allowed widespread enfranchisement for white women, Black women still faced many attempts at disenfranchising them, and Tennessee Women spotlights the voices of prominent Black suffragists. The playwright is a professor emerita at Middle Tennessee State University.

The cast includes Justine D'Souza, Mimi B. Francis, Barry Leonard, Emily Niemeyer, Anna Paone, Laura Paone, Shauni Ramai, Seema Shahane, and Tyechia Smith. The show is directed by Dragonfly's executive artistic director, Catherine LaMoreaux.

Tennessee Women for the Vote is sponsored by duCret School of the Arts and the League of Women Voters of Plainfield. Dragonfly and duCret are taking every effort to ensure a safe environment for both actors and audience, and look forward to returning to theatrical productions. The show will be performed Wednesday, August 26, at 6 p.m. at duCret School of the Arts, 1030 Central Ave., Plainfield, NJ. Audience members will need to bring their own chairs, which will be socially distanced. The rain date is Thursday, August 27 at 6 p.m. The show is free, although donations are gladly accepted.