Deborah Richardson-Webb / Deeds Not Words

Alternative Title #1 :  ‘How the Suffragettes Invented Performance Art’ [1]

Alternative Title #2 :  Railing in the Wind

In advance of our Glen Prosen week we were given a ‘social change’ assignment.  I chose the suffragettes.  I am interested in many aspects of this chapter in our history and it’s legacy but for my research I wanted to consider my personal connection with the topic.

Two aspects became very present for me during this time;

• I was interested in perfomativity and I wanted to examine the connections between the actions of the suffragettes and my own work in teaching performance.  For this aspect I revisit Leslie Hill’s article.

• I was interested in the power of direct action and how some actions become transformed into iconic images, which remain in our collective consciousness long after the event.  For this aspect I consider the women who chained themselves to the railings of the Parliament buildings.

To address the first, I stand on the Hill of Spott in Glen Prosen, beside a tree.  I have tied my WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) scarf to a branch and the green, purple and white flaps in the high wind.  My colleagues sit around the tree.  I tell them about Nic Green’s Trilogy [2] and we hum ‘Jerusalem’ together in memory of the suffragettes and in tribute to Nic’s work.

I hurl my words into the wind,

• The personal IS political
• The body is the site of oppression and resistance
• The power of live presence cannot be underestimated
• The performance of personal truths is more important to me than acting

To consider the second, I begin to photograph railings.

I ask myself some questions;

What would I chain myself to railings for? What are my beliefs? What are my railings?

Some answers are;

I believe in:

• human capacity for growth and change
• radical pedagogy
• my family
• the interconnectedness of all living things
• the idea that we contain within ourselves all we need to live our lives now
• valuing intuition
• taking time
• being hopeful

As I make this list, I realise I will need good strong railings and warm clothes…I may be some time!

[2] http://www.nicgreen.org.uk/