South Tyneside based Canny Craic Theatre Company has been awarded £6,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and £500 from the Barbour Foundation to tour a Wild Lassie workshop about North East suffragists and suffragettes and their struggle to get the vote for women.
The Wild Lassie refers to Emily Wilding Davison, the most famous local suffragette, who died after trying to pin the colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union on the King’s horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913.
Co-director Ken Reay said, “The Wild Lassie began because many schools asked us to return after our tour last year as the children really enjoyed the way we deliver history with specially-written scripts and excellent local professional actors who stay in role and answer their questions.
"We call it a tour but really it is a road-show, as we adapt the scripts for different age groups and locations. For instance, there were some horrible tortures carried out on the really militant women in prison that are not suitable to discuss with our youngest school audiences.”
The Wild Lassie is touring the region in October 2016 and, as well as school performances to over 1,000 students, there are bookings at venues the public can attend free of charge. These include easily accessible libraries in South Shields (Cleadon Park Library at 10AM on Wednesday 12 October) and Sunderland (Central Library at 3PM Wednesday 19 October).