'Last Battle of the American Revolution' Recounts the End Game for Women's Suffrage, Feb. 22
February 10, 2017
Contact: Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
The University of Baltimore's Spotlight UB live performance series is partnering with the Baltimore chapter of the League of Women Voters to bring to life The Last Battle of the American Revolution, a play about the fight for American women's right to vote. A staged reading of the play, written by Kimberley Lynne, the University's arts and theater manager and an acclainmed playwright with dozens of productions to her credit, will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Wright Theater in the UB Student Center, 21 W. Mt. Royal Ave. Ticket information is detailed below.
The Last Battle of the American Revolution recounts the story of Harry Burn, the Tennessee Republican legislator whose vote to ratify the 19th Amendment granted women suffrage. In August 1920, Tennessee was poised as the last state to ratify the amendment, with the vote tied. Lawmakers, liquor lobbyists and suffragettes descended on the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, where the vote swung back and forth in the ballrooms while the Women's Christian Temperance League protested outside. In the midst of all of this drama, Burn took his mother's advice and voted to ratify.
Local director and Stevenson University faculty member Linda Chambers will direct a cast of UB faculty, students, and staff in the Last Battle reading. Chambers directed the AXIS Theatre's Last Battle production and last directed Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things on the Spotlight UB stage.
Lynne is the arts and theater manager and an affiliate faculty member at the University of Baltimore as well as an established playwright. More than 40 of her plays have been produced in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Virginia, New York, and Ireland. Lynne teaches playwriting at UB and in Ireland in creative writing residencies for American students. She wrote Last Battle in late 1990s; it was produced at AXIS Theatre and traveled the state via Young Audiences of Maryland for five years.
As arts and theater manager, Lynne ties Spotlight UB programming to curriculum because performance drastically increases comprehension. Students from UB history courses and the Honors Society will attend the performance.
Rooted in the movement that secured the right to vote for women, the League of Women Voters has worked to foster civic engagement and enhance access to the vote since the organization was founded in 1920. Over time their work has evolved from efforts to gain and foster women's suffrage to ensuring that all eligible voters—particularly those from traditionally underrepresented or underserved communities, including first-time voters, non-college youth, new citizens, minorities and low-income Americans—have the opportunity and the information they need to exercise their right to vote. The League's mission includes ensuring a free, fair and accessible electoral system for all eligible voters. Through their national Public Advocacy for Voter Protection Project and dozens of state-based volunteer activist teams, the League works year-round to combat voter suppression through advocacy, grassroots organizing, legal action and public education. The League of Women Voters will host a reception and silent auction after the performance to benefit the Baltimore City Chapter.
Tickets are available online at www.etix.com and one hour before show in the Wright Theater lobby. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for senior/LWV members, and $5 for students.
As part of activist Bad and Nasty Bmore's Not My President Day activities, selections from the play will be read at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative on Monday, Feb. 20 in the afternoon. The time is to be announced.
Reduced rate parking is available on Spotlight UB event nights at the UB Maryland Avenue Garage, located on Maryland Avenue between Biddle and Chase streets, or the Fitzgerald Garage on Oliver Street; a voucher will be provided at the box office, and the UB shuttle is available to transport patrons between the venue and the garage.
Complete details about the Spotlight UB 2017 season are available here. For more information about Spotlight UB, send an e-mail to spotlightub@ubalt.edu.
Learn more about the Baltimore chapter of the League of Women Voters.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.