Victoria Woodhull: The Rise and Fall of America’s First Feminist

Victoria’s sister, Tennesee “Tennie” Claflin, played with energy and grace by Lisa Rozza-Haft, helps anchor Victoria in her past and her family. “Tennie” and Victoria’s father Buck Claflin, played by Richie Applebaum, create a vivid portrait of a family willing to play with the world to get what it needs. One of my favorite moments in the play is when an important political conflict is going on, Tennie gaily plays cards with a relative.

The family is rounded out by Victoria’s ex-husband, Dr. Canning Woodhull, whose performance by James Bradley conjures up the oldest traditions of the court jester. Even modern presidents need one, and this flawed man’s very failings act as a moral compass for Victoria.

Outside this strong-willed family, Victoria finds strong people to contend with and befriend. She struggles to ally herself with the Big Three of the women’s movement: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stowe, played by Staci Rosenberg-Simons, comes across as the most driven and unforgiving of the three, with Anthony, played by Stephanie Sultana, acting often as mediator, and Stanton, played by Kate Madigan, seeming to feel most warmly towards Victoria. The excellent costumes in the play reach their peak with these three women, helping the actresses to come alive in a different time with the special carriage that marked the women leaders of that era.

In this play of ideas, the conflict between “fight just for suffrage” and “fight for all women’s rights” is the most intriguing. Woodhull’s life and work raise deep questions about the best way to do politics. Should one hide one’s light under a bushel so as not to scare away possible voters? Or should you just be yourself, and let people figure it out? I find myself admiring Victoria and disliking the narrow focus of these women, but a bit of review after the play reminded me that these narrow, focused women succeeded in getting the 19th amendment passed in 1920, and the rights Victoria wanted — abolition of biased marriage rules, getting the state out of people’s married lives, economic equality for women — have been much longer in coming.

Victoria’s longtime friend Cornelius Vanderbilt, played with conviction and humor by Alex Edwards-Bourdrez, confounds one’s biases and prejudices about aggressive capitalists and emphasizes that it takes a village to make a President. He is matched, almost like a counterweight, by Congressman John Armor Bingham, played with manly, pig-headed vigor by Mike McKenna, who captures perfectly the politician who will not change his world view, and is willing to use vast resources to maintain it, whether it makes sense or not. His debate with Victoria over what the word “person” means in the constitution captures the true absurdity of the political world men had created and Victoria was determined to transform.

I urge the cast, director and playwright to look for new venues for this wonderful piece. I will take issue with the subtitle—“The Rise and Fall of America’s First Feminist” — I din’t feel that Victoria Woodhull “fell” in her life. Her feet were too firmly planted. Instead, this play documents her walk in the direction we all need to go — towards full rights for all people, including ambitious people with complicated pasts.