PITTSFIELD â When playwright Mark St. Germain was approached by Florida Studio Theatre a little over a year ago to write a play for the Sarasota theaterâs Suffragist Project, honoring the 100th anniversary of the passing of the19th amendment granting women the right to vote, he found inspiration in Eleanor Roosevelt.
âI think (she) is a true heroine,â the playwright said in an email, âsomeone who stood up for the rights of every man and woman in the world. She backed down to no one, including her husband, the President.â
âEleanorâ had a reading early in 2020 as part of the workshop at FST, where St. Germain is a member of the Playwrightsâ Collective. In October 2020, Barrington Stage Company â where St. Germain is an associate artist â streamed a virtual reading of the play that had been filmed in BSCâs otherwise empty Boyd-Quinson Stage. Now, virtual is made real. The production â directed by Henry Stram and starring
This stirring play gives a rare glimpse into the real-life struggles faced by two important figures from the early-20th century: Marian Anderson and Albert Einstein. My Lord, What A Night will run in FST's Keating Theatre starting Wednesday, June 30.
Many of the events were canceled or drastically altered because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Alexander, who served as project director, said she was impressed with how the community “did come together and all the things we were able to do to honor the suffragists.”
The project, which launched with a walk in the Sarasota holiday parade in 2019 and continued through Aug. 20 anniversary, is recalled in the new 70-minute documentary “Dangerous Ladies: Voices of the Suffragists,” which is featured in this year’s Sarasota Film Festival. It will be shown in two public screenings at 2 p.m. Sunday and 6 p.m. May 6 at CMX CinéBistro Siesta Key. An outdoor discussion with the filmmakers will be at 8 p.m. May. The film also is available for viewing virtually throughout the festival, which runs Friday through May 8.
“I didn't really know what to expect at all, but the storytelling and the acting was just all really well put together and I could almost visualize what was going on,” social media intern for OdysseyStage Eloise Rich said.