Central’s Naomi Paxton Collaborates with Scary Little Girls on their Salon de la Vie - ‘Nobody Expects the Suffragettes!’
“Nobody Expects the Suffragettes” picture by Jacky Fleming for Scary Little Girls
Central’s Dr Naomi Paxton has partnered with feminist production hub Scary Little Girls on their fourth season of Salon de la Vie - ‘Nobody Expects the Suffragettes!’.
Scary Little Girls is a vibrant, hard-working production hub, run by Artistic Director Rebecca Mordan, and with a commitment and passion for theatrical and artistic storytelling.
Hosted by Rebecca Mordan, Salon de la Vie is a series of fortnightly 15 – 20 minute extravaganzas of songs, storytelling, merriment and conversation. Each event focuses on an awe-inspiring, remarkable and brave human from the world of film, music, literature and history. The events draw parallels with the achievements of activists today to celebrate how people positively embody the change they want to see in the world, both for themselves and for others.
The result of Naomi’s collaboration on ‘Nobody Expects the Suffragettes!’ is five online events based on her research into suffrage theatre and entertainments. These events combine recorded extracts, songs, special guests and a live show finale to celebrate the wild, wonderful, wise and witty women of the first wave. The events are streamed on YouTube - fully captioned - and the first four are available to engage with for free. This Salon series is also part of the British Association for Modernist Studies’ Festival of Modernism 2021.
The Salon themes are:
Votes for Children, 2nd June: A look at the young people who supported the suffrage movement and found their own voice in the process.
Birds of a Feather, 16th June: Hear about plans to fill Parliament with suffragette parrots, talk about how the movement campaigned not just for votes for women but to end vivisection, and explore the links between vegetarianism and suffrage.
Nobody Expects the Suffragettes!, 30th June: Site specific, pop up and random acts of activism all characterised the creative shenanigans of suffragists in the theatre and entertainment industries, and this Salon celebrates some of the most unexpected!
The Woman’s Theatre, 14th July: Look at the way suffrage campaigners imagined a theatre they could be part of, including female producers and playwrights, crèches, and an end to the casting couch.
Taking the Stage!, 28th July: The Salon’s live season finale bringing the work of Elizabeth Robins, Evelyn Glover and Cicely Hamilton to life before your very eyes! Expect digital mayhem, songs, short scenes and feminist fun for all. Tickets £5.
Of her involvement in the collaboration, Dr Naomi Paxton said:
It’s great to work with Rebecca Mordan and Scary Little Girls to share extracts of suffrage plays and stories of suffrage activism through this season of Salons - and to bring them to life again for a new audience.
Dr Naomi Paxton is Central’s Knowledge Exchange Fellow, a Parliamentary Academic Fellow, and an Associate Fellow of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Her research focuses on feminist activism, the suffrage movement, and the cultural histories of political and feminist theatre.
Naomi was an Arts and Humanities Research Council and BBC Radio 3 New Generation thinker, and she continues to speak regularly on BBC radio and television, as well as in other media and at festivals and events.
In 2018, she was nominated for a Parliamentary Diversity and Inclusion Award for her work with the Vote 100 team, a collaborative project with UK Parliament, the University of Lincoln and the University of Plymouth to commemorate the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
Naomi is also an award-winning performer who has appeared on the West End, in national and international touring productions, cabaret, magic, physical theatre, radio drama and comedy.
Watch Naomi’s collaboration with Scary Little Girls and Salon de la Vie on YouTube
Find out more about Naomi’s work on Series 3, Episode 1 of the Discover Central Podcast.