SUFFS

KEEP MARCHING!!

Last Friday night I saw the Broadway show SUFFS on PBS’ Great Performances series. I was also fortunate to see the touring company in Philadelphia this past January and I was surprised at how powerful the show continued to affect me. It was interesting that the original cast, although excellent, was not as powerful in some areas of the performances. I know this is picking straws, but I wonder if it was the live performance, the first time I heard and experienced the music or the message being so powerful.

First and foremost, I admit I am a sucker for live performances. From the first time I was taken to the theater at age 7, seventy-six years ago (EEK!) I have been thrilled by the sound of an orchestra and the human voice. Today everyone is “miked” and you never quite hear the actual voice unless you are in a theater without amplification. (Progress?). The pace and choreography of SUFFS is utterly fantastic. That too was more powerful live as opposed to camera angles. I know-I know-I am being very picky-but there was something about experiencing the progressive marching and use of the performers’ arms in the choreography that was thrilling for me.

I had a lump in my throat watching the entire show and wept out loud several times, as I did in the theater in January. The line “I want my great-granddaughter to know I was here,” hit me hard, now that I am indeed a great-grandmother. Also the line “Progress is possible, not guaranteed”.

Another thought: “The sound of human female voices in unison is one of the pure sound.” As a singer, this resonated in my body throughout the show.

After I saw the show in January, I posted this on Facebook:

“I’m moved to tears by this show. The sound of female voices singing in unison and harmony is powerful. The story is an old one and as a young woman I fought hard to secure the freedom to choose and be recognized as equal to men. Much has changed since early part of the 20th century but we’re dealing today with a backlash and the despicable behavior of men (and some women) that saddens me greatly. May we all see a brighter light in the future.”

SUFFS begins in 1913 when the movement for women’s voting rights had been going on for nearly twenty years! After the mendacity of Woodrow Wilson and others, the 19^th Amendment was finally ratified on August 26, 1920. Unfortunately, it would take the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow Southern black women that same right. And last week the Supreme Court crapped on that Act forcing people across the country, especially in the South, to have to jump through hoops to vote. Is the “Republican” Party so fearful they will lose the midterm and presidential elections? Or is it simply part of the plan to keep women, other minorities, and democracy crippled.

Why, have I asked myself, are we in this predicament today?

I think the answer is fear. Fear of the “other”, fear of the unknown, the insecurity of white men who without reason, fear they will be castrated if women are in power. I believe this is why the other day James Carville called the ODH “Scrotum Face,” a brilliant new take on the “backside of the nutsack.” I can only imagine if a female had coined that phrase!! And therefore, lies the rub.

Brave women have fought for future generations for the right to vote, equal rights and pay and still we do not have equality. I wonder if it will ever come to pass in my lifetime that men and women, straight, gay, black, brown, yellow will ever be treated alike.

I personally have a situation with someone in my own life where we do not share the same POVS. Although there are times when that pot boils over, basically we have established an acknowledgement of our differences, and out of respect for each other, we coexist by not force feeding each other our particular POV. I believe that one cannot be convinced of anything they don’t want to be, so I choose not to engage in subjects that will lead to anger and resentment, and that includes what television channels to change or mute. I also do not step in the doggy-doo when I see it on the sidewalk. I often ask myself if this is possibly the answer to global conflict, but I also know that the need for domination in the world is eons old.

SUFFS pointedly shows us how difficult it has been to be a woman in the world and at the same time, how amazing we are as we continue to change history. Shaina Taub has raised my consciousness in this brilliant artistic endeavor.

If you can stream PBS, I urge you to watch this meaningful piece of theater. SUFFS will stir your heart, mind and soul.

KEEP MARCHING!!!