As we approach the general election, Dreadnought South West Association is going on the road with a new play - 'The Orchard'.

Part of the Rebellious Sounds project, which is looking at stories around women's activism across the South West, 'The Orchard' imagines a meeting between Millicent Fawcett and Emmeline Pankhurst, the moderate and the radical, and explores what happens when opposing political forces come together.

Dreadnought will host a series of unique ‘scratch’ performances of 'The Orchard' across the region. These scratch performances are similar to script-in-hand or rehearsed readings of the material so far, and Dreadnought is inviting audiences to have their say in this pre-election time and to add their voices to the creative process through lively Q&A sessions and debates on the issues contained in the play; the importance of using the vote, democracy, equality, women’s voices and the paradoxes of leadership.

Nine million women did not use their vote in the last UK general election in 2010. What will happen this May?

As well as the performances, there will be a series of free workshops and events taking place - details of which will go up on the website soon (www.dreadnoughtsouthwest.org.uk)