Thunder of Freedom

Thunder Of Freedom is a one-act play written and performed by local actor and writer, Alison Saunders.
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858 - 1928) is synonymous with the fight for women’s right to vote in Britain over 100 years ago. This champion of women's suffrage fought her whole life against the discrimination of women and was the founder and leader of the militant Women’s Social and Political Union. On the 20th January 1912 Mrs Pankhurst addressed the people of Llanelli at the Parish Hall, amid industrial strife in the town sparked by a widening sense of injustice at the extreme difference between the rich and the poor. This one-act play is set in Llanelli town centre and re-imagines what might have gone on that evening in January 1912 based on archived newspaper coverage of the event and on Emmeline Pankhurst’s own words. The play is inspired by her visit and also traces Mrs Pankhurst's early life, her career as an activist for social justice, her own personal and political struggles and the wider ordeals of the Suffragette campaign. It would be another sixteen years until universal suffrage was introduced in Britain on the 2nd of July 1928 – when all women in Britain over the age of twenty-one would be given the same right to vote as all men. Emmeline Pankhurst died just three weeks before. Although it was a victory which she did not live to enjoy, her legacy continues to this day to inspire and empower women around the world - a testament to her indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment to equality.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher ALISON SAUNDERS