York loves a community play, and this tale of suffrage follows the likes of Blood+Chocolate and In Fog And Falling Snow in mixing the amateur and the professional.

The production, directed by Juliet Forster and Katie Posner, is less ambitious than the early community plays, but still vital and interesting. It starts outside York Minster, where feminist-themed busking turns into a modern march and a protest from 100 years ago.

It’s all rather chaotic, but has the advantage of turning the audience into protesters who ‘march’ on the theatre, where the show continues.

Playwright Bridget Foreman builds her story around the York suffragettes, notably the initially reluctant recruit Annie Seymour Pearson, played by Barbara Marten (known for Casualty and many other things), who commands the cast like a lighthouse.

In a serious-minded piece, Foreman weaves strands of humour to lighten the tapestry; the heaviest scene comes when suffragettes are force-fed.

In terms of staging, there are moments that thrill. At one point newsreel footage of a protest is projected onto a transparent screen, behind which the cast throngs and masses.

Those screens are also used for whip-smart silent movie-style scenes, with the cast hidden behind the running film.

The ending, in which the whole cast – including the excellent choir – fill the stage for a rousing hymn to suffrage and women’s rights is magnificent, and a testament to the power of community theatre. Down-point: those microphones annoy for a while.

  • Everything Is Possible – The York Suffragettes, York Theatre Royal, until July 1

Julian Cole