'Votes for Women!' one-act play to celebrate Illinois Bicentennial, Women's History Month

History, Mark Twain once supposedly said, doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

That rhyme is on full display in "Votes for Women!," a one-act historical drama written by North Central College author, playwright, and associate professor of English Zachary Michael Jack in commemoration of the Illinois Bicentennial and in celebration of Women's History Month.

North Central's Benjamin Paynic makes his directorial debut with associate professor of Theater John Warrick on board as production supervisor in a show made free and open to the public.

The drama opens as a woman-only train prepares to leave Chicago crowded with activists destined for a women's march on the National Mall, with the goal of reminding the new president of the urgent need for women's equality.

The year? Not 2016, but 1913, when Illinois became the first state east of the Mississippi River to grant women the right to vote. The play conjures the long-forgotten quotes, speeches, and writings of Chicago-area activists Belle Squire, Virginia Brooks, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett as together with a single sympathetic journalist they ride a freedom train to Washington, D.C. and march proudly into history. Ariana Burks plays Ida B. Wells; Claire Nelson plays Virginia Brooks; and Katie Rose Ford plays Belle Squire. English major Giuliano Catalano narrates events as the reporter tasked with covering the historic event.

"In 30 minutes of stage time, the challenge is to breathe life back into these early Illinois equal rights activists, whom so many of us have forgotten," Jack said, "as well as to remember together Illinois's pioneering role in securing votes for women."

The play opens in Chicago as the suffragettes march up Jackson Street and presents a series of votes-for-women monologues leading up to the dramatic march on Washington, D.C., where Illinois women faced both mob violence and blatant discrimination. Jack, who also serves on the faculty of North Central College's Leadership, Ethics, and Values program, has published many books on visionary social change leaders, ranging from Rosalie Gardiner Jones to Teddy Roosevelt to Henry Wallace.

Performances run from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2, and 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3, at Madden Theatre on the campus of North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave. in Naperville. Both are free and open to the public and will be followed by a discussion and Q&A.

"Votes for Women!" premieres as part of Illinois Humanities' Forgotten Illinois program, which aims to shed light on forgotten chapters of Illinois history and make them widely accessible via storytelling.