The National Theatre is marking the centenary of the first women in the UK getting the right to vote with a new series based around suffrage and the fight for equality around the world.
Courage Everywhere, which runs from November 15-18, will hold a run of rehearsed readings directed by Phyllida Lloyd, Lyndsey Turner, Nadia Fall, Jenny Sealey and Dawn Walton, as well as talks, events and a free exhibition.
On November 15, Sealey directs And Others, a testimony to the pioneering women whose stories have been left untold. Dawn Walton directs two works revolving around race and the suffrage movement on November 16: In the Parlour and Magda, Jo, Isabella.
Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s historic play Her Naked Skin gets a return to the National on November 17 under Nadia Fall’s direction, after premiering in 2008. In the evening, Phyllida Lloyd directs Bull in a China Shop, a new comedy love story set in Massachusetts.
Lyndsey Turner directs the final piece, Votes for Women by Elizabeth Robins, about the moment the suffragette movement was born, with a cast including Vinette Robinson, Nikesh Patel, Ruby Bentall and Sylvestra le Touzel.
Events and talks include a discussion about women’s voices with Scarlett Curtis, Montaza Merhi and Nimco Ali, as well as a journey through women’s poetry with Joanna Lumley.
Courage Everywhere runs November 15-18 at the National Theatre. For a full line up of events go to nationaltheatre.org.uk
