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Cast members from the Tony-winning musical “Suffs” visited the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton last Thursday, stepping into a place closely connected to the history portrayed onstage.

Gwynne Wood, a Waynesboro, Virginia, native who plays suffragist Lucy Burns, joined understudy Gretchen Shope for the center’s Learning at Lunch Series. They answered questions from several hundred fans beneath a tent beside the Lorton Prison Museum.

The museum chronicles the experiences of suffragists imprisoned there in 1917 after picketing the White House for women’s voting rights. Burns was among those jailed, enduring brutal treatment and force-feeding because of her activism.

Wood was particularly interested in the museum’s Lucy Burns Gallery, which explores a life and legacy that the musical can only partly capture.

“Lucy Burns was such a special woman,” Wood said. Although the show depicts Burns as Alice Paul’s best friend, Wood said she was also an important suffragist in her own right.

“I’m really happy to be here in a place that centers her and her experience, because she was so much more than even the musical has time to give her credit for,” Wood said.

The visit followed the musical’s opening at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., where a full house gave the production an enthusiastic reception. The show has been touring the United States for eight months.

Wood described the opening-night energy as “completely unmatched,” saying the cast sensed the audience’s enthusiasm as soon as the curtain rose. The Washington engagement carries added meaning because much of the action depicted in the musical occurred only blocks from the theater.

For Wood and fellow cast members, the suffrage movement’s struggles also remain relevant.

“Some of the things that you hear in the play, you feel like they could unfortunately be headlines that came out like last week,” Wood said.

Wood said the suffragists can sometimes seem distant from modern life, but they were ordinary women determined to create change. Their example, Wood added, offers inspiration to “keep marching and keep moving forward.”

“Suffs” runs at the National Theatre through June 28.