BRUCE MONK Enlarge Image

Richard Clarkin and Sarah Constible in RMTC’s The Fighting Days.

The Fighting Days pays homage to suffragette Francis Beynon, a forgotten Manitoba feminist

When it comes to the women’s suffrage movement in Manitoba, Nellie McClung is the name of the game. The Canadian activist and politician is so immortalized — in library, Heritage Minute and statue form — you’d swear she singlehandedly won the vote for women. Wendy Lill’s The Fighting Days aims to change that attitude, introducing us to journalist Francis Beynon, a forgotten feminist whose uncompromising nature probably led to her current status as a historical footnote.

The play — which premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange in 1983 — starts with Francis (Sarah Constible) and her sister, Lily Beynon (Daria Puttaert), on a train destined for Winnipeg. Lily, a writer for the Winnipeg Free Press, is reassuring her shy but curious farm girl sister that she’s going to love living in the big city. She runs through a laundry list of attractions the ’Peg has to offer, an inventory that includes the term "suffrage," a new word to young Francis, but one that will come to define her life.

In Winnipeg, Francis is introduced to Nellie McClung (Marina Stephenson Kerr). She’s immediately captivated by McClung’s ideas, strong presence and skills as an orator, but this attraction wears thin as Francis begins to develop her own ideas and find her own success within the women’s movement, specifically as women’s editor of The Rural Review (in actuality, Beynon worked for the Grain Growers’ Guide). With the First World War raging overseas, the two eventually come to a head over the issues of conscription and the rights of immigrant women during these tough times.

It’s called The Fighting Days, but Act I is mostly devoid of conflict.

Instead, the play’s first half is more like one long introduction, a history lesson of sorts. We hear Nellie’s speeches and Francis’ increasingly political columns, while letters to the editor read aloud demonstrate the attitudes of the day. We see the suffragists at work but at no point do we really feel like we’re inside the movement. For instance, Brian Perchaluk’s spinning set is surrounded by oversized words such as "women," "justice," "temperance" and "democracy." Yes, they indicate what we’re dealing with, but it’s all on the surface.

That being said, as obvious and one-dimensional as it is, I quite enjoyed Act I. The history is interesting and easy to follow (and, after wading through Shavian wit the past few weeks, a little simplicity was very welcome).

It’s also a good introduction to the cast of characters, which also includes The Rural Review editor George McNair (Richard Clarkin), whose bluntness, Scottish brogue and old-fashioned mindset make for many a laugh.

Plus, there’s the overwhelming feeling that all this exposition is setting up something exciting.

Indeed it does, as Act II is absolutely full of fight, whether it’s Francis vs. Nellie, Francis vs. Lily, Francis vs. McNair, Francis vs. her readers or Francis vs. herself. Chock full of inner turmoil and outer struggle, the incredible depth displayed in Act II makes the play’s first half seem completely necessary, like the setup to a great punch line. As Francis, Constible is just fantastic. (In fact, she’s so captivating in the play’s final scene, a touching moment between Francis and McNair, that the constant coughers in the crowd actually stopped coughing.)

"History is written by the victors."

That famous quote, attributed to Winston Churchill, couldn't be truer. McClung is the face of feminism in Canada but she was also a politician — and politicians make concessions.

Backing down wasn’t in Francis Beynon’s blood. For that, she deserves to be remembered.