UoS Lecturer: ‘Voting doesn’t just affect Salford students, it affects everyone’

The play, One Simple Idea, written by a University of Salford lecturer, marks the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote.

A new play by @UoS_ArtsMedia lecturer Louise Page will mark the centenary of women getting the vote when it's performed tonight #Vote100 #VotesForWomen #Suffrage @UKVote100 https://t.co/WO7B05p6Qd pic.twitter.com/kNOo43r8ZE

— Salford Uni News (@SalfordUniNews) February 6, 2018

The play, ‘One Simple Idea’  has been funded by the government’s £1.5 milion Women’s Vote Centenary Grant Scheme and will be performed by the Pomegranate Youth Theatre.

Mrs Page said: “Every time I caste my vote, I think about all the women and men who fought to get me the vote, it’s so important because one vote really does go a long way.

“I have always been passionate about voting and that’s one of the reasons why I wrote this play. Young people are the future, they need to use the vote they have” she added.

The play is based on contemporary extracts from Hansard, the official Parliamentary record, the charts and the progress of the debate for the votes for women.

Louise Page, a lecturer at the University of Salford said that it was “hugely important to celebrate the anniversary of women’s vote and to actively get involved in voting”.

The creative writing lecturer has also written works including ‘Salonika’ at the Royal Court and ‘House Wives’ at Derby Theatre.

She described the new play she’s written as “one of the best” she written and a piece she hopes will “inspire young people to vote and to really appreciate what has been done for their right to vote”.

“I called it One Simple Idea because to a modern audience, it is almost like a given, but to the politicians it’s  controversial and it’s a quite dangerous actually” she added.

We're celebrating #VOTE100, marking 100 years since the UK Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act, giving all men and the first women the right to vote.https://t.co/PgdgEM3l6N pic.twitter.com/zJRdxVohzT

— UK Parliament (@UKParliament) February 6, 2018

The university lecturer aims to give a voice to students and to make sure that they stay passionate about subjects such as politics and issues that affect them directly.

She continued to say: “It doesn’t just affect Salford students, it affects everyone and if I can reach out to audiences beyond my students, and I inspire them or make them think twice, then that’s enough for me”.

The play is due to be held at Chesterfield Town Hall at 6pm tonight.