'South Australia is a state of firsts when it comes to women’s history. In 1881, the University of Adelaide was the first university in Australia to award women degrees and, in 1894, South Australia became the first Australian state to allow non-Indigenous women the right to vote. South Australian suffrage leader Catherine Helen Spence became the first federal woman political candidate in 1897, while in 1965 South Australian lawyer Roma Mitchell became the first woman appointed to a Supreme Court. These are but a few of the many pioneering women who have contributed to the state’s social, cultural and political landscape. However, in a quirk of history, South Australia remains the only Australian jurisdiction not to have had a woman leader. How might this anomaly be explained?' (Introduction)
'Suffrage dramatists were united against inequality for women. In A Splendid Adventure, the author argues that the contributions of Australian suffrage theatre were unique because, unlike their British and American counterparts, the dramatists were enfranchised women. They were able to look beyond the narrow question of the vote to consider democracy in the contemporary world and yet their work has been underestimated and overlooked in feminist theatre histories. Smith seeks to redress the balance by examining the works of Australian women writing for the theatre during the suffrage period timeframe of 1890–1920, concentrating principally on three dramatists: Katharine Susannah Prichard, Miles Franklin and Inez Bensusan. The full text of one play by each is reproduced, two of which have not previously been published.' (Introduction)
(Introduction)
