Day 2157 Suffs

 

Now that’s a ceiling! Walking into the Providence Performing Arts Center always makes me feel as if I’m stepping back in time, living the high life in the 1920s. The beautiful theater was built in 1928 and is an architectural marvel....the Newport mansions have nothing on this place.

I got a text from a friend earlier in the day offering me two tickets to Suffs, playing at 7:30. It was last minute, but sometimes that’s the best kind of rerouting a day. Tim wasn’t interested in going; I think the super-cold temperatures made staying home where it’s warm far too tempting. So I invited my mother, who I knew would be happy for a night out on the town.

Neither of us knew anything about the musical, going in with no expectations. People-watching at the theater before a show starts is almost as good as the show itself. We watched people roll in wearing face masks while carrying drinks, and I couldn’t help but wonder how effective the masks were when they needed to be removed throughout the show every time they wanted a sip. We spotted a woman draping her long coat over the back of her seat, clearly intruding on the person behind her while she sat oblivious to her rudeness. All in all, though, most folks were fairly well behaved.

The show itself was entertaining. The singing was phenomenal, and the historic struggles of women’s suffrage were accurate, although presented a bit militantly at times, as women’s rights seemed to morph into a pro-lesbian battle cry. My mom and I were both amazed at my historical knowledge when, just before a pivotal moment, I stunned both of us by knowing exactly how the vote went down...and the story behind it.  I won’t give it away, but holy cow, I’m still not sure how I knew that obscure piece of history!

Women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920, and equal rights came painfully slowly after that. Women couldn’t have their own bank accounts until the 1960s and didn’t gain full financial independence until 1974. Sadly, men could, and did, commit their wives to mental hospitals and abuse them with little to no consequence, which makes our hard-won rights far more valuable than many women today even realize.

So while stepping back in time inside such a beautiful, ornate building was magical, there’s not a chance I’d want to truly live back then. It was a dangerous place for outspoken women like me. Leaving the theater, I felt grateful, for the art, the history, and the progress we’ve made. I didn't need to be reminded how important it is to protect it.

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ~ Alice Walker