About the Play:

The Remarkable Susan is a one-act drama by Tim Kelly. Drawn from the actual court records, this imaginative and compelling courtroom drama deals with the trial of Susan B. Anthony, an early women's rights activist who dared to fight for her constitutional right to vote in an election.

The Remarkable Susan is set in an upstate New York courtroom where Susan B. Anthony, a social reformer and women's rights advocate, is on trial for casting a ballot during the 1872 election for members of Congress. Tempers flare, animosities run high, and insults are traded as the fiery defendant of woman's rights challenges the ruling of the court – determined to resist bigotry and injustice. While her trial is basically a sham, she storms and pleads and lectures, and skillfully turns defeat into victory – sounding a call for human dignity which inevitably awakened the conscience of the nation.

The Remarkable Susan is an ideal choice for high school drama productions.

Cast: 10 female, 6 male (or all female), extras

About the Playwright:

Tim Kelly (1931-1998) is often regarded as the most-published playwright in America, with over 300 titles to his credit under both his real name and at least four pseudonyms (Vera Morris, J. Moriarty, Robert Swift, Keith Jackson). Many of his plays, like Les Miserables, M*A*S*H and The Uninvited, are adaptations of novels, films. or television series, although he also wrote a host of parodies a well as original scripts and musical libretti. While his plays have been performed off-Broadway and by such companies as the Royal Court Rep, the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) and Seattle Rep, he is best known for writing for university, community and school theatre.