Women’s Institutes drama groups and Shakespeare in early twentieth-century England, 1919–1939

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of Shakespeare by the Women’s Institutes drama groups during the interwar period in rural England. The WIs used amateur theatre to emphasise women’s social and cultural value as part of their broader effort to revitalise the countryside. The article asserts that the broad nature of the WIs and its local variances meant that the drama groups not only appealed to a diverse group of women, but their performances also had wide public appeal. Additionally, the malleability and recognisability of Shakespeare’s plays and characters could equally serve either a conservative or progressive ideology, which complicates efforts by historians to fit the drama groups into a feminist paradigm. In order to gauge how these performances—and their messages—were received, the article draws upon newspapers and magazines in conjunction with official records.