Suffs
Opening Night: April 6, 2022
Theater: Public Theater
Website: publictheater.org
In the seven years leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, an impassioned group of suffragists—“Suffs” as they called themselves—took to the streets, pioneering protest tactics that transformed the country. They risked their lives as they clashed with the president, the public, and each other. A thrilling story of brilliant, flawed women working against and across generational, racial, and class divides, Suffs boldly explores the victories and failures of a fight for equality that is still far from over.
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April 6, 2022
For all the work this show does to illuminate the successes — and failures — of the women’s rights movement, and the constantly evolving nature of our politics, it focuses so much energy on seeming as timely as possible. But, as the suffs learn, movements transform; our government leaders change, as do the demands of the people on the picket line. It’s a lesson the musical should take to heart: You can’t live in the past, present and future of our nation’s politics all at once — at least not without losing your way.
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April 6, 2022
Although musical theater often celebrates women, few shows have turned the spotlight on feminism itself. Shaina Taub helps fill that gap with the artful and inspiring historical epic Suffs.
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April 6, 2022
Over the course of this almost three-hour show (which could be even longer to better accommodate the stuffed-and-rushed second act), Taub manages to dramatize the complex origins and contentious development of the women’s rights movement by filtering it through the political coming-of-age narrative of Alice Paul, one of its seminal leaders. Making this a genuine tour de force, the composer-lyricist-writer also plays this central role.
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April 6, 2022
This history reads like pretty dry stuff, but right from that beginning chorus, “Suffs” is anything but. This sung-through musical is rousing entertainment for all of its nearly “three hours straight,” and much of the delight comes from seeing how Taub manipulates the material to make it fun.
READ THE REVIEWApril 6, 2022
Suffs, which opens tonight at the Public Theater and runs until May 15th, is sharp, engaging, and downright fun — as well as a reminder that even though we can laugh at jokes about how women are treated, we still have so much to fight for.
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April 6, 2022
Shaina Taub has spent eight years researching and condensing the adventures of women’s rights activist Alice Paul and her cronies into a manageable tale. Despite the comparatively concise final product, at nearly three hours in runtime, Suffs (shorthand for women who fought to win the right to vote) still feels too long to absorb in one sitting. Though well crafted by Taub―who wrote the book, music, and lyrics―beautifully performed by the cast of 20 women, and neatly directed by Leigh Silverman, the show could stand to jettison approximately 30 minutes of its repetitive slogans, anthems, chants, and “this is who I am” songs.
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April 6, 2022
But by that point in this overlong musical, it’s hard to drum up the excitement that should have been there from the beginning. Suffs isn’t as miserable an experience as it might read under analysis but, unlike its worthy subject matter and the discussions a stronger throughline could have provoked, it isn’t a drum worth beating.
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April 6, 2022
The score’s most successful numbers are the climactic protest songs that come at the end of each act: The shouts of “we won’t wait another day” and “the young are at the gates,” linking the suffragists of yore to the activists of today. These moments finally get your heart racing, just as Taub (an activist in her own right) has long proved capable of doing through her insightful and cathartic music. If only Suffs weren’t as splintered as the movement.
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April 6, 2022
The musical is already piercing and deeply felt and good. Just a few amendments to go, and, like a certain Constitution I could mention — it might be truly great.
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