AFL Crossword - the answers

Hello there!
Here are the answers to yesterday's Actresses' Franchise League crossword... well done if you got any or most of them. 

Across clues

• 2. The clue was 'Of Great Women' and the answer was 'PAGEANT'. 

Cicely Hamilton's Pageant of Great Women was first produced by the AFL in 1909 at the Scala Theatre. 

• 6. The clue was 'Skating Rink that held the WSPU Women's Exhibition of 1909' and the answer was 'PRINCES'.

The Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge had held the Olympic figure skating competition in 1908 and was the venue for the WSPU 'Women's Exhibition' which ran from  13th-26th May 1909. The Actresses' Franchise League organised the entertainments there in a purpose built theatre space that had five performances a day.

• 8. The clue was 'Her sister Maxine had a theatre in NYC' and the answer was 'ELLIOTT'.

Gertrude Elliott was an American born actress and the second President of the AFL who was married to the actor-manager and suffragist Johnston Forbes-Robertson. Her sister, the actress and socialite Maxine Elliott had her own Broadway theatre in New York at 109 West 39th Street. Named 'Maxine Elliott Theatre' - it opened in 1908 and was sadly destroyed in 1960. 

• 9. The clue was 'Regular venue for meetings' and the answer was 'CRITERION'.

The Grand Hall at the Criterion Restaurant, Piccadilly Circus was a regular venue for the AFL 'At Homes'. The inaugural meeting of the AFL was held at the Criterion in November 1908.

• 9. The clue was 'How The Vote Was Won' first performed here and the answer was 'ROYALTY'.

One of the most popular suffrage plays, 'How the Vote Was Won' was first performed at the Royalty Theatre on Dean Street, Soho on 13th April 1909. 

• 13. The clue was 'Vegetarian restaurant that was next to Theatre Royal Drury Lane' and the answer was 'GARDENIA'.

The Gardenia restaurant was on Catherine Street in Covent Garden and was the venue for many WSPU breakfasts and teas as well as WFL meetings. During the night of the Census protests in April 1911, the Gardenia was open for breakfast at 3.30am for the Suffragists and Suffragettes who stayed out all night in the West End. 

• 15. The clue was 'Site of Skating Rink where the AFL performed on Census night 1911' and the answer was 'ALDWYCH'.

The Aldwych Skating Rink or 'Rinkeries' was open at 1am on Census night for Suffragists and Suffragettes to evade the Census takers. As well as skating there were speeches by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst and recitals by Actresses' Franchise League members.

• 16. The clue was 'Wrote about Both Side of the Curtain' and the answer was 'ROBINS'.

Elizabeth Robins, the actress, writer and suffragist wrote 'Both Sides of the Curtain', a memoir of her early years as an actress in London. It was published in 1940. She was a member of the Actresses' Franchise League and the Women Writers Suffrage League and wrote the 1907 play Votes for Women which was based on her novel The Convert.

• 17. The clue was 'Had a Little Theatre' and the answer was 'KINGSTON'.

Actress, actress-manager and AFL member Gertrude Kingston became, in 1910, the first leaseholder of the Little Theatre on John Adam Street, just off the Strand. In 1911 a young Noel Coward made his first stage appearance there in a children's fairy tale called 'The Goldfish'.

• 19. The clue was 'Created by Cicely Hamilton, not Madame Tussaud' and the answer was 'WAXWORKS'.

Cicely Hamilton's Anti-Suffrage Waxworks was another popular work for suffrage audiences and was often presented in conjunction with Pageant of Great Women. Featuring Hamilton as the 'Show-woman', it featured an array of comic anti-suffragist stereotypes. 
 

• 21. The clue was 'Overused in Pret sandwiches' and the answer was 'MAYO'.

Winifred Mayo was an actress and founding member of the AFL, remaining a member until it was wound up in 1958. A supporter of militancy, she spent time in prison for her actions. You can hear her speaking about her experiences in a BBC interview here.

• 22. The clue was 'One of the AFL colours' and the answer was 'PINK'.

• 23. The clue was 'She wrote about a Chat with Mrs. Chicky' and the answer was 'GLOVER'.

Evelyn Glover was a playwright  who wrote one of the most well-known suffrage plays A Chat with Mrs Chicky which was first performed in February 1912. You can watch extracts from it and find out more about the AFL in Clare Neylon's film To Hear Her Voice.

• 24. The clue was 'One of the AFL colours' and the answer was 'GREEN'.

Down clues

• 1. The clue was 'Mint cake' and the answer was 'KENDAL'.

Actress Dame Madge Kendal - known as Mrs Kendal - was the first President of the Actresses' Franchise League.

• 3. The clue was 'Hers is the Kingsway' and the answer was 'ASHWELL'

Actress and AFL member Lena Ashwell ran the Kingsway Theatre near Holborn from 1907. She established the Women's Theatre Camps Entertainments in 1914 and took entertainments and plays to the troops abroad and was one of the founders of the Women's Emergency Corps.

• 4. The clue was '150 seater theatre on Maiden Lane' and the answer was 'REHEARSAL'.

The Rehearsal Theatre was in the same building as the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand and was used by the AFL for tryout matinee performances of new suffrage plays.

• 5. The clue was 'Jersey Lily' and the answer was 'LANGTRY'.

Actress and AFL member Lily Langtry remains one of the most well known actresses from the Edwardian period.

• 7. The clue was 'Apple writer' and the answer was 'BENSUSAN'.

Australian actress and playwright Inez Bensusan ran the Play Department of the AFL. She wrote The Apple which was first performed at the Court theatre in 1909.

• 11. The clue was 'Sisters who left the League in 1913' and the answer was 'VANBRUGH'.

Actresses Irene and Violet Vanbrugh left the AFL after disagreeing with the sympathies of some of the other members towards the militancy of the Suffragettes. Irene Vanbrugh's husband, Dion Boucicault was an actor-manager who was not in favour of women's suffrage.

• 12. The clue was 'Writer of 'Marriage as a Trade'' and the answer was 'HAMILTON'

Cicely Hamilton wrote her book Marriage as a Trade in 1909. An actress turned playwright, she was a founder member of the Scottish Women's Hospitals during WW1.

• 14. The clue was 'Edy was a Lady' and the answer was 'CRAIG'.

Daughter of Ellen Terry and sister of Edward Gordon Craig, Edith Craig was an actress, director, designer and producer who threw her energies and talents into producing, writing and directing suffrage, social issue and experimental plays throughout her career. She formed the Pioneer Players in 1911, a theatre society which promoted women's work.

• 18. The clue was 'Militant music hall artiste' and the answer was 'MARION'.

Kitty Marion was a militant member of the AFL and was force-fed over 230 times during her many imprisonments for the Cause. Born in Germany, she moved to America during WW1 and continued to work for the suffrage there - becoming a vigorous campaigner for birth control and women's issues in the US.

• 20. The clue was 'Previously Marshall' and the answer was 'STJOHN'.

Writer and playwright Christopher St John changed her name - previously Christabel Marshall - soon after meeting Edith Craig in 1899. She wrote and translated plays for the AFL and Pioneer Players.

• 21. The clue was 'Surname of Decima, Eva, Bertha and Emily' and the answer was 'MOORE'.

The Moore sisters were heavily involved with the AFL from the beginning. Decima and Eva were actresses, Bertha was a singer and their sister Emily was head of the musicians section of the AFL. 




If you got any of these - congratulations!


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