After the opening of the critically acclaimed Broadway musical “Suffs” at the National Theatre in D.C. last week, cast members visited a Northern Virginia location that resonated with everyone tied to the show.
Gwynne Wood, who is originally from Waynesboro, Virginia, plays Lucy Burns in the Tony-winning musical. Wood took part in the Learning at Lunch Series at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton Thursday.
She and understudy Gretchen Shope answered questions from several hundred “Suffs” fans under a tent right next to the Lorton Prison Museum. The museum tells the story of the suffragists who were imprisoned there in 1917 for picketing the White House for women’s rights to vote.
Wood was especially interested in visiting the museum’s Lucy Burns Gallery. Burns was imprisoned at Lorton in 1917 and endured brutal imprisonment and force-feeding for her voting rights activism.
Wood told WTOP that being at the museum was special, especially because of the character she plays.
“Lucy Burns was such a special woman,” she said. In the musical, “she’s portrayed as Alice (Paul)’s best friend. But she was such an important ‘Suff’ in her own right. So I’m really happy to be here in a place that centers her and her experience, because she was so much more than even the musical has time to give her credit for.”
The musical has been touring the U.S. for eight months. On opening night, a full house at the National Theatre gave the show a rousing reception.
Wood said the energy “was completely unmatched. We felt it as soon as the curtain came up. We just feel like the audience is really with us here, and like, how can you not be when, like, all of the action that’s taking place literally happened like blocks away, if not on the same street? So it’s been amazing.”
The lesson of the suffrage movement is one that still makes sense today to Wood and her castmates.
“Some of the things that you hear in the play, you feel like they could unfortunately be headlines that came out like last week,” Wood said. “I think that it’s an important inspirational tool as well to be like these suffragists who sometimes feel like they’re so far away.”
“They were all just women like us who wanted to make a change, and so I feel like that inspiration is really helpful today, that we have to keep marching and keep moving forward.”
“Suffs” plays at the National Theatre through June 28.
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