“I Want to Go to Jail” is a one act play with eleven scenes. Running time is about 45 minutes. The play is suitable for middle school through adult audiences and can be performed as a staged reading or full production.
Casting:
6 women, 2 men
Men play multiple roles:
Actor 1: Police Commissioner Curtis, Sheriff Keliher, Newsboy 1
Actor 2: Judge Bolster, Martha Foley’s father, Officer, Newsboy 2
Pronunciation key:
Occoquan Workhouse: “AH-ko-kwan”
Mrs. Rosa Roewer: like “flower”
Katherine Morey: like “story”
“Alive Oh!”:
A suffrage song by suffragist Beulah Amidon, sung to the melody of “Molly Malone.” It was sung by suffragists in jail, including the Charles Street Jail. It was used at many events during the last years of the suffrage movement. Betty Gram used it to end her nationwide speeches as a National Organizer.
Their eyes to the eastward,
Their hearts high with vision
The women have toiled through the dusk of delay;
The brave banners blowing,
Undaunted and singing,
For justice, for freedom, Alive, Alive, Oh!
Chorus:
Alive, Alive, Oh!
Alive, Alive, Oh!
For justice, for freedom, Alive, Alive, Oh!
Awake to the dawning?
We conquer! We conquer!
The sky is ablaze with the fire of our day;
The morning has risen—
In triumph we hail it—
For justice, for freedom, Alive, Alive, Oh!
Chorus