Download or read book Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Plays by Women written by Penny Farfan and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book foregrounds some of the ways in which women playwrights from across a range of contexts and working in a variety of forms and styles are illuminating the contemporary world while also contributing to its reshaping as they reflect, rethink, and reimagine it through their work for the stage. The book is framed by a substantial introduction that sets forth the critical vision and structure of the book as a whole, and an afterword that points toward emerging currents in and expansions of the contemporary field of playwriting by women on the cusp of the third decade of the twenty-first century. Within this frame, the twenty-eight chapters that form the main body of the book, each focusing on a single play of critical significance, together constitute a multi-faceted, inevitably partial, yet nonetheless integral picture of the work of women playwrights since 2000 as they engage with some of the most pressing issues of our time. Some of these issues include the continuing oppression of and violence against women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and ethnic minorities; the ongoing processes of decolonization; the consequences of neoliberal capitalism; the devastation and enduring trauma of war; global migration and the refugee crisis; the turn to right-wing populism; and the impact of climate change, including environmental disaster and species extinction. The book is structured into seven sections: Replaying the Canon; Representing Histories; Staging Lives; Re-imagining Family; Navigating Communities; Articulating Intersections; and New World Order(s). These sections group clusters of plays according to the broad critical actions they perform or, in the case of the final section, the new world orders that they capture through their stagings of the seeming impasse of the politically and environmentally catastrophic global present moment. There are many other points of resonance among and across the plays, but this seven-part structure foregrounds the broader actions that drive the plays, both in the Aristotelian dramaturgical sense and in the larger sense of the critical interventions that the plays creatively enact. In this way, the seven-part structure establishes correspondences across the great diversity of dramatic material represented in the book while at the same time identifying key methods of critical approach and areas of focus that align the book’s contributors across this diversity. The structure of the book thus parallels what the playwrights themselves are doing, but also how the contributors are approaching their work. Plays featured in the book are from Canada, Australia, South Africa, the US, the UK, France, Argentina, New Zealand, Syria, Brazil, Italy, and Austria; the playwrights include Margaret Atwood, Leah Purcell, Yaël Farber, Paula Vogel, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan-Lori Parks, debbie tucker green, Lisa Loomer, Hélène Cixous, Anna Deavere Smith, Lola Arias, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori, Marie Clements, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Alia Bano, Holly Hughes, Whiti Hereaka, Julia Cho, Liwaa Yazji, Grace Passô, Dominique Morisseau, Emma Dante, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Lynn Nottage, Elfriede Jelinek, Caryl Churchill, Colleen Murphy, and Lucy Kirkwood. Encompassing several generations of playwrights and scholars, ranging from the most senior to mid-career to emerging voices, the book will be essential reading for established researchers, a valuable learning resource for students at all levels, and a useful and accessible guide for theatre practitioners and interested theatre-goers.
Download or read book Popular Plays by Women in the Restoration and Eighteenth Century written by Tanya M. Caldwell and published by Broadview Press. This book was released on 2011-06-30 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology offers a selection of popular dramatic works by female playwrights from Aphra Behn in the 1670s through Hannah Cowley in the later eighteenth century. These plays were successful as plays of their time, not just as plays by women, together providing evidence that women dramatists often managed better than their male counterparts to please diverse audiences, who were notoriously fickle as well as predisposed to oppose them. Accessible to both graduates and undergraduates, Popular Plays by Women shows how these playwrights captured audiences through wit, social awareness, and dramatic dexterity. As well as including the prologues and epilogues of the four plays presented, this anthology provides additional materials in which female playwrights discuss the prejudices and special difficulties they face.
Download or read book War Plays by Women written by Agnes Cardinal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-11 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology consists of ten plays from countries involved in the First World War, including plays from Germany and France never before available in translation. Representing a range of dramatic forms, from radio play to street-epic, from comic sketch to musical, this anthology includes plays from: Gertrude Stein, Muriel Box, Marion Wentworth Craig, Dorothy Hewett, Berta Lask, Marie Leneru, Wendy Lill, Alice Dunbar Nelson, and Christina Reid. Highly successful in their day, these plays demonstrate how women have attempted to use theatre to achieve social change. The collection explores the historical development of theatrical conventions and genres and the historical context of social and gender issues.
Download or read book Plays for Today By Women written by Gillian Plowman and published by Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plays for Today by Women A wide-ranging collection of plays by women dealing with contemporary subjects such as sexual abuse, recession, war, poverty and the complexity of modern women’s lives. Many roles for women and girls provided. Suitable for study or for performance or as part of courses in Women’s Studies or Feminist Theatre Studies. All the plays have been produced and performed in the UK to acclaim and are written by commissioned playwrights. “The expanse of subjects this short collection covers shows that women are not just writing about the kitchen sink, the claim so often levelled. This collection (provides) a snapshot of an exciting time for female writers” @17percent The Plays For A Button by Rachel Barnett: comic two hander about two friends and the lengths one will go to, to remain best friends. Yours Abundantly, From Zimbabwe by Gillian Plowman: a middle-aged woman decides to leave her comfy life in the UK and work in a school in Zimbabwe. Welcome To Ramallah by Sonja Linden and Adah Kay: two Jewish sisters are forced to confront the reality of what their forefathers have done to the Palestinians. From The Mouths Of Mothers by Amanda Stuart Fisher: a verbatim drama detailing the distressing stories of mothers who learned that their child has been abused. The Awkward Squad by Karen Young: a three-generational drama involving Northern women who are trying to live and work in recessionary Britain. Sweet Cider by Emteaz Hussain: In a rundown park, two teenage runaways Tazeem and Nosheen hang out, chatting to the boys and an old bag lady, trying to reconcile being British with their Pakistani cultural traditions. About the editors Cheryl Robson is an award-winning playwright and publisher who founded Aurora Metro Books over 20 years ago to develop and publish new writers in drama and fiction. She also established The Virginia Prize for Fiction in 2009 to promote emerging women novelists. Previously, she worked for the BBC, ran a theatre company and taught in higher education. Rebecca Gillieron is an editor and musician with various releases on independent labels in the US and UK. Keen to raise the profile of women and the arts, she has worked in publishing for fifteen years moving from Virgin and Penguin Books into independent publishing via The Womens Press, Marion Boyars and now Aurora Metro Books.
Download or read book War Plays by Women written by Claire M. Tylee and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology consists of ten plays from countries involved in the First World War. It explores the historical development of theatrical conventions and genres and the historical context of social and gender issues.
Download or read book Classic Plays by Women written by Hrotswitha and published by Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classic Plays by Women: an anthology of the best plays by female dramatists from 1600-2000 Staged in theatres by successive generations and proving relevant to contemporary audiences, the plays demonstrate the wit, theatrical skill and innovation of their creators in exploring timeless topics from marriage, morality and money to class conflict, rage and sexual desire. An essential resource for students, playwrights, colleges, universities and libraries, this collection also provides theatres with the opportunity to programme a range of theatrical classics by women. Plays from: Hroswitha’s Paphnutius (extract); Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam(extract); Aphra Behn’s The Rover; Susanna Centlivre’s A Bold Stroke For A Wife; Joanna Baillie’s De Montfort; Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford and Son; Enid Bagnold’s The Chalk Garden; Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls (extract); Marie Jones’ Stones in his Pockets.
Download or read book Contemporary Plays by Women of Color written by Roberta Uno and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-06-28 with total page 859 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is a ground-breaking anthology of eighteen new and recent works by African American, Asian American, Latina American and Native American playwrights. This compelling collection includes works by award-winning and well-known playwrights such as Anna Deavere Smith, Cherrie Moraga, Pearl Cleage, Marga Gomez and Spiderwoman, as well as many exciting newcomers. Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is the first anthology to display such an abundance of talent from such a wide range of today's women playwrights. The plays tackle a variety of topics - from the playful to the painful - and represent numerous different approaches to playmaking. The volume also includes: * an invaluable appendix of published plays by women of color * biographical notes on each writer * the production history of each play Contemporary Plays by Women of Color is a unique resource for practitioners, students and lovers of theatre, and an inspiring addition to any bookshelf.
Download or read book African Women Playwrights written by Kathy A. Perkins and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, a distinctive collection of plays by African women published in English
Download or read book Plays by Women from the Contemporary American Theater Festival written by Susan Miller and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-02-21 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based at Shepherd University, in West Virginia, the Contemporary American Theater Festival is nationally and internationally recognized as a home for playwrights and the development and production of new plays. The Festival makes it a priority to celebrate and produce playwrights with strong, distinct voices, with a core value to tell diverse stories. This anthology of work provides plays that speak to one of the most compelling virtues of artists everywhere – freedom of speech. A necessary volume of women playwrights' work, ranging from a two-time Obie Award-winning author to emerging writers just beginning their careers, it represents a group of women who vary in age, race and sexual orientation and offers an invitation to artistic leaders, scholars and students to embrace gritty, thought-provoking new dramatic work. Edited by The Festival's Producing Directors Peggy McKowen and Ed Herendeen, this anthology features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage. Each of the five powerful plays is followed by an informative and discursive playwright interview conducted by Sharon J. Anderson that contextualizes and develops the works within the wider context of the annual festival. The plays include: Gidion's Knot by Johnna Adams The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess Memoirs of a Forgotten Man by D.W Gregory Dead and Breathing by Chisa Hutchinson 20th Century Blues by Susan Miller
Download or read book Plays by Women in Ireland 1926 33 Feminist Theatres of Freedom and Resistance written by Margaret O’Leary and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-04-21 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This anthology provides access to neglected theatrical work and broadens our understanding of the history of Irish theatre as well as the vital role of women within it. The introduction places these plays in dialogue with one another as well as within the national context of the repealing of women's rights during the Irish Free State years. These are plays by authors including Mary Manning, Dorothy Macardle, Mary Devenport O'Neill, Kate O'Brien and Margaret O'Leary, which are difficult to access, but which are increasingly visible in Irish theatre scholarship. This unique collection places the playwrights in dialogue to form a tradition of women's theatrical work that challenges the male-dominated literary canon of Irish theatre, as well as enriching the body of women's theatrical work in the Anglophone world during the interwar years. Includes the plays: Kate O'Brien – Distinguished Villa (1926) Margaret O'Leary – The Woman (1929) Mary Manning – Youth's the Season (1931) Dorothy Macardle – Witch's Brew (1931) Mary Devenport O'Neill – Bluebeard (1933)
Download or read book Modern Anglophone Drama by Women written by Alan P. Barr and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2007 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alan P. Barr has brought together eleven world-class modern plays by women that show not only their artistry but also their variety and their passion. Drawn from nine different countries (other than the United States and England) that use English as their literary language, the plays reflect the concerns of women across the globe. The imagery and dramatic conventions may shift and the tones vary, but the need to be strong (and its difficulty), the sense of a world that is anything but nurturing or ideal, and the suspect nature of family life and relations are constant themes. The struggle over language, in countries that are very often ex-colonies, conveys the frequent overlap between feminist and postcolonial focuses. The diversity of Englishes on stages from Singapore to South Africa is a lovely curtain call to this theater festival.
Download or read book Plays by French and Francophone Women written by Christiane P. Makward and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rich collection of plays by French and francophone women writers in English translation
Download or read book Lesbian Queer Plays from the Jane Chambers Prize written by Maya E. Roth and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-08-30 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: LESBIAN & QUEER PLAYS FROM THE JANE CHAMBERS PRIZE edited by Maya E. Roth and Jennifer-Scott Mobley with a preface by Jill Dolan and an afterword by Sara Warner This volume, the first of two, gathers five plays from the history of the Jane Chambers Prize: UNSPEAKABLE ACTS by Mary F. Casey, FULL/SELF by Claire Chafee, THE SIEGELS OF MONTAUK by Meryl Cohn, A LIVE DRESS by MJ Kaufman and FEMMES by Gina Young. THE JANE CHAMBERS PRIZE recognizes plays and scripts for performance written by a woman that present a feminist perspective and significant roles for female performers. This annual award is given in memory of lesbian playwright Jane Chambers who, through her plays and activism became a major feminist voice in American theater. This publication is a collaboration between WTP and NoPassport Press.
Download or read book Face It written by Vivian Diller, Ph.D. and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Let’s face it: everyone’s getting older. But millions of women, raised to believe that success and happiness are based on their intelligence and accomplishments, face an unexpected challenge: the physical realities of aging. If looks are not supposed to matter, why do so many women panic as their appearance changes? Their dilemma stems from two opposing societal views of beauty which lead to two different approaches to aging. Should women simply grow old naturally since their looks don’t define them, or should they fight the signs of aging since beauty and youth are their currency and power? This Beauty Paradox leaves many women feeling stuck. Face It, by Vivian Diller, Ph.D., is a psychological guide to help women deal with the emotions brought on by their changing appearances. As a model turned psychotherapist, Diller has had the opportunity to examine the world of beauty from two very different vantage points. This unique perspective helped her develop a six-step program that begins with recognizing "uh-oh" moments that reveal the reality of changing looks, and goes on to identify the masks used to cover deeper issues and define the role beauty plays in a woman’s life, and ends with bidding adieu to old definitions of beauty, so women can enjoy their appearance—at any age!
Download or read book The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today s World written by Mary Zeiss Stange and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2013-01-09 with total page 1258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This e-only volume expands and updates the original 4-volume Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World (2011), offering a wide range of new entries and new multimedia content. The entries reflect such developments as the Arab Spring that brought women's issues in the Islamic world into sharp relief, the domination of female athletes among medal winners at the London 2012 Olympics, nine more women joining the ranks of democratically elected heads of state, and much more. The 475 articles in this e-only update (accompanied by photos and video clips) supplement the themes established in the original edition, providing a vibrant collection of entries dealing with contemporary women's issues around the world.
Download or read book Contemporary Plays by African Women written by Sophia Kwachuh Mempuh and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume uniquely draws together seven contemporary plays by a selection of the finest African women writers and practitioners from across the continent, offering a rich and diverse portrait of identity, politics, culture, gender issues and society in contemporary Africa. Niqabi Ninja by Sara Shaarawi (Egypt) is set in Cairo during the chaotic time of the Egyptian uprising. Not That Woman by Tosin Jobi-Tume (Nigeria) addresses issues of violence against women in Nigeria and its attendant conspiracy of silence. The play advocates zero-tolerance for violence against women and urges women to bury shame and speak out rather than suffer in silence. I Want To Fly by Thembelihle Moyo (Zimbabwe) tells the story of an African girl who wants to be a pilot. It looks at how patriarchal society shapes the thinking of men regarding lobola (bride price), how women endure abusive men and the role society at large plays in these issues. Silent Voices by Adong Judith (Uganda) is a one-act play based on interviews with people involved in the LRA and the effects of the civil war in Uganda. It critiques this, and by implication, other truth commissions. Unsettled by JC Niala (Kenya) deals with gender violence, land issues and relations of both black and white Kenyans living in, and returning to, the country. Mbuzeni by Koleka Putuma (South Africa) is a story of four female orphans, aged eight to twelve, their sisterhood and their fixation with death and burials. It explores the unseen force that governs and dictates the laws that the villagers live by. Bonganyi by Sophia Kwachuh Mempuh (Cameroon) depicts the effects of colonialism as told through the story of a slave girl: a singer and dancer, who wants to win a competition to free her family. Each play also includes a biography of the playwright, the writer's own artistic statement, a production history of the play and a critical contextualisation of the theatrical landscape from which each woman is writing.
