8pm Performances Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th November
December 1918. The first woman is elected overwhelmingly to the British Parliament by the working class district of St. Patrick’s, Dublin. She is in prison.
One of the leaders of the Easter Rising, she never took her seat and went on to become Minister of Labour in the first (illegal) Irish Dáil. Her name was Constance Markievicz.
Her sister Eva was a pacifist and mystical poet who campaigned for conscientious objectors in World War 1. With her lifelong partner, Esther Roper, Eva campaigned in northwest England for education, trade union rights and votes for women, including bar maids and pit-brow lasses. Despite their differences, there was a deep love between the sisters, and Eva supported Constance throughout the difficult times.
Originally from the wealthy Gore-Booth family of Sligo, and praised for their beauty by W.B. Yeats, they gave up their privileges for the causes of working people and Irish independence.
Rebels and Friends brings their stories to life with over 500 images, music recorded by Michael Coleman, Grainne Yeats and Dominic Behan, poetry, and dance choreographed by Siân Williams, Master of Dance at the Globe Theatre and choreographer for the BBC’s acclaimed Wolf Hall.
Originally described as “stunning and evocative”, Rebels and Friends has been revived for a new generation.
Here is a review of the show at the Unite union headquarters.