Download or read book Feminist Theatre Then and Now written by Elaine Aston and published by Aurora Metro Publications Ltd.. This book was released on 2024-08-20 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feminist Theatre Then & Now – Celebrating 50 Years of women theatre makers in the UK and Ireland and their battle to make their voices heard, have their work produced professionally, and promote social justice. Here, the pioneers and leading lights of the newly energised feminist theatre movement continue to fight for an equitable, diverse and inclusive theatre which speaks for all. In 30+ essays, covering three generations, the interviews and essays in this book give important insight into the lived experience of women working in theatre and what it takes to rise in an industry where race, gender, class and parenthood can be serious obstacles to success. Interviews and essays by playwrights, directors, producers and actors including: Asian Women’s Theatre in Britain by Rukhsana Ahmad Derby Theatre by Sarah Brigham Interview with Moira Buffini Intersectional Feminism at Work by Kelly Burke The Personal was very Political by Clair Chapwell Behind The Lines by Alison Child How Feminism has Influenced my Playwriting by April de Angelis Interview with Suzanne Gorman Clean Break by Anna Herrmann Interview with Hannah Khalil The Women in Theatre Lab by Polly Kemp and Jennifer Tuckett Persistence, Expression and Evolution by Peta Lily Interview with Roberta Livingston Ecofeminism by Bibi Lucille The Third World of Irish Women by Jaki McCarrick Monstrous Regiment by Mary McCusker Open Clasp Theatre by Catrina McHugh Interview with Suzie Miller Interview with Ann Mitchell Interview with Rebecca Mordan Interview with Amy Ng Untold Stories by Maeve O’Neill Girls’ Night Out by Rachel O’Regan Interview with Kaite O’Reilly Sphinx by Sue Parrish and Susan McGoun Interview with Julia Pascal Out of the Attic – WTW by Cheryl Robson and Anna Birch Scylla’s Bite by Rebekah Smith and Abbie Lowe Interview with Dame Rosemary Squire Women in their own Words by Lucy Stevens Stella Quines & After by Gerda Stevenson Differences Matter by SuAndi Theatre from a Lesbian Perspective by Clare Summerskill Interview with Imy Wyatt Corner Index Reviews “On the 50th anniversary of the first Women’s Theatre festival and the explosion of work by women that has built in quantity, wealth and diversity since then this is an important new book celebrating and giving voice to many of the key contributors to that rich history and exciting present. “ – Susan Croft, Director – Unfinished Histories “Fascinating histories and perspectives from a selection of feminist theatre practitioners fighting to achieve equality over half a century of patriarchy.” – Lisa Goldman, Writer & Director “A necessary read for drama students and anyone interested in our cultural history. Highly recommended.” – Beatie Edney, Actor & Director “The interview and essay structure of the book makes its near 300 pages easily digestible and the editor has quite carefully avoided a chronological structure. The intermingled ‘then’ and ‘now’ approach works remarkably well, a continual reminder of how past, present and future are feeding into one another all the time. While the book is strong on the impacts of earlier feminist theatremakers, the very similar or partially evolved restrictions that today’s women are still facing are given equivalent weight. It becomes a meaningful arrangement in which a wide range of voices are heard without singling out or forgetting eras or areas of the industry, making room for everything from clowning to lesbian theatre, exploring how all forms of feminist theatre from West End platforms to grassroots activism always blends the political and the personal onstage and off.” – Maryam Philpott, The Reviews Hub
Download or read book From Aphra Behn to Fun Home written by Carey Purcell and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-12-04 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theatre has long been considered a feminine interest for which women consistently purchase the majority of tickets, while the shows they are seeing typically are written and brought to the stage by men. Furthermore, the stories these productions tell are often about men, and the complex leading roles in these shows are written for and performed by male actors. Despite this imbalance, the feminist voice presses to be heard and has done so with more success than ever before. In From Aphra Behn to Fun Home: A Cultural History of Feminist Theatre, Carey Purcell traces the evolution of these important artists and productions over several centuries. After examining the roots of feminist theatre in early Greek plays and looking at occasional works produced before the twentieth century, Purcell then identifies the key players and productions that have emerged over the last several decades. This book covers the heyday of the second wave feminist movement—which saw the growth of female-centric theatre groups—and highlights the work of playwrights such as Caryl Churchill, Pam Gems, and Wendy Wasserstein. Other prominent artists discussed here include playwrights Paula Vogel Lynn and Tony-award winning directors Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor. The volume also examines diversity in contemporary feminist theatre—with discussions of such playwrights as Young Jean Lee and Lynn Nottage—and a look toward the future. Purcell explores the very nature of feminist theater—does it qualify if a play is written by a woman or does it just need to feature strong female characters?—as well as how notable activist work for feminism has played a pivotal role in theatre. An engaging survey of female artists on stage and behind the scenes, From Aphra Behn to Fun Home will be of interest to theatregoers and anyone interested in the invaluable contributions of women in the performing arts.
Download or read book Black Feminism in Contemporary Drama written by Lisa M. Anderson and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In tracing black feminism in contemporary drama by black women playwrights, Lisa M. Anderson reviews the history of black feminism through analysis of plays by Pearl Cleage, Glenda Dickerson, Breena Clarke, Kia Corthron, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sharon Bridgforth, and Shirlene Holmes.Black Feminism in Contemporary Dramarepresents a cross section of women who have diverse writing and performance styles and generational differences that highlight the artistic and political breadth of black feminist theater. Anderson closely investigates each play's construction and the context of its production, including how the play critiques, shifts, or alters dominant culture stereotypes; how it positions goals of the "community"; and how it engages with the concept of art's function. She not only discusses what shapes the black feminism of these writers but also points out how the meaning of the term black feminism shifts among them.
Download or read book The Feminist Spectator as Critic written by Jill Dolan and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extends the feminist analysis of representation to the realm of performance
Download or read book The Book of Will written by Lauren Gunderson and published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Without William Shakespeare, we wouldn’t have literary masterpieces like Romeo and Juliet. But without Henry Condell and John Heminges, we would have lost half of Shakespeare’s plays forever! After the death of their friend and mentor, the two actors are determined to compile the First Folio and preserve the words that shaped their lives. They’ll just have to borrow, beg, and band together to get it done. Amidst the noise and color of Elizabethan London, THE BOOK OF WILL finds an unforgettable true story of love, loss, and laughter, and sheds new light on a man you may think you know.
Download or read book Feminist Theatres in the USA written by Charlotte Canning and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-06-28 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feminist Theaters in the USA is a fresh, informative portrait of a key era in feminist and theater history It is vital reading for feminist students, theater historians and theater practitioners. Their continued movement forward will be challenged and enriched by this timely look back at the trials and accomplishments of their predecessors. Canning interviews over thirty women who took part in the dynamic feminist theater of the 1970s and 1980s. They provide first-hand accounts of the excitement, struggles and innovations which formed their experience. From this foundation Cannning constructs a compelling combination of historical survey, critique and celebration which explores: * The history of the groups and their formation * The politics which shaped their work * Their methods and creative processes * The productions they brought to the stage * The reception from critics and audiences
Download or read book Violent Women in Contemporary Theatres written by Nancy Taylor Porter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together the fields of theatre, gender studies, and psychology/sociology in order to explore the relationships between what happens when women engage in violence, how the events and their reception intercept with cultural understandings of gender, how plays thoughtfully depict this topic, and how their productions impact audiences. Truthful portrayals force consideration of both the startling reality of women's violence — not how it's been sensationalized or demonized or sexualized, but how it is — and what parameters, what possibilities, should exist for its enactment in life and live theatre. These women appear in a wide array of contexts: they are mothers, daughters, lovers, streetfighters, boxers, soldiers, and dominatrixes. Who they are and why they choose to use violence varies dramatically. They stage resistance and challenge normative expectations for women. This fascinating and balanced study will appeal to anyone interested in gender/feminism issues and theatre.
Download or read book Women in American Theatre written by Helen Krich Chinoy and published by Theatre Communications Grou. This book was released on 2006 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First full-scale revision since 1987.
Download or read book Feminist Theatre Practice A Handbook written by Elaine Aston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-07-05 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feminist Theatre Practice: A Handbook is a helpful, practical guide to theatre-making which explores the different ways of representing gender. Best-selling author, Elaine Aston, takes the reader through the various stages of making feminist theatre- from warming up, through workshopped exploration, to performance - this volume is organised into three clear and instructive parts: * Women in the Workshop * Dramatic Texts, Feminist Contexts * Gender and Devising Projects. Orientated around the classroom/workshop, Handbook of Feminist Theatre Practice encompasses the main elements of feminist theatre, both practical or theoretical.
Download or read book An Actress Prepares written by Rosemary Malague and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Every day, thousands of women enter acting classes where most of them will receive some variation on the Stanislavsky-based training that has now been taught in the U.S. for nearly ninety years. Yet relatively little feminist consideration has been given to the experience of the student actress: What happens to women in Method actor training?' An Actress Prepares is the first book to interrogate Method acting from a specifically feminist perspective. Rose Malague addresses "the Method" not only with much-needed critical distance, but also the crucial insider's view of a trained actor. Case studies examine the preeminent American teachers who popularized and transformed elements of Stanislavsky’s System within the U.S.—Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, and Hagen— by analyzing and comparing their related but distinctly different approaches. This book confronts the sexism that still exists in actor training and exposes the gender biases embedded within the Method itself. Its in-depth examination of these Stanislavskian techniques seeks to reclaim Method acting from its patriarchal practices and to empower women who act. 'I've been waiting for someone to write this book for years: a thorough-going analysis and reconsideration of American approaches to Stanislavsky from a feminist perspective ... lively, intelligent, and engaging.' – Phillip Zarrilli, University of Exeter 'Theatre people of any gender will be transformed by Rose Malague’s eye-opening study An Actress Prepares... This book will be useful to all scholars and practitioners determined to make gender equity central to how they hone their craft and their thinking.' – Jill Dolan, Princeton University
Download or read book Feminist Theatrical Revisions of Classic Works written by Sharon Friedman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Re-visioning the classics, often in a subversive mode, has evolved into its own theatrical genre in recent years, and many of these productions have been informed by feminist theory and practice. This book examines recent adaptations of classic texts (produced since 1980) influenced by a range of feminisms, and illustrates the significance of historical moment, cultural ideology, dramaturgical practice, and theatrical venue for shaping an adaptation. Essays are arranged according to the period and genre of the source text re-visioned: classical theater and myth (e.g. Antigone, Metamorphoses), Shakespeare and seventeenth-century theater (e.g. King Lear, The Rover), nineteenth and twentieth century narratives and reflections (e.g. The Scarlet Letter, Jane Eyre, A Room of One's Own), and modern drama (e.g. A Doll House, A Streetcar Named Desire).
Download or read book Contemporary Women Playwrights written by Penny Farfan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-23 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Breaking new ground in this century, this wide-ranging collection of essays is the first of its kind to address the work of contemporary international women playwrights. The book considers the work of established playwrights such as Caryl Churchill, Marie Clements, Lara Foot-Newton, Maria Irene Fornes, Sarah Kane, Lisa Kron, Young Jean Lee, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Djanet Sears, Caridad Svich, and Judith Thompson, but it also foregrounds important plays by many emerging writers. Divided into three sections-Histories, Conflicts, and Genres-the book explores such topics as the feminist history play, solo performance, transcultural dramaturgies, the identity play, the gendered terrain of war, and eco-drama, and encompasses work from the United States, Canada, Latin America, Oceania, South Africa, Egypt, and the United Kingdom. With contributions from leading international scholars and an introductory overview of the concerns and challenges facing women playwrights in this new century, Contemporary Women Playwrights explores the diversity and power of women's playwriting since 1990, highlighting key voices and examining crucial critical and theoretical developments within the field.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to American Women Playwrights written by Brenda Murphy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1999-06-28 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume addresses the work of women playwrights throughout the history of the American theatre, from the early pioneers to contemporary feminists. Each chapter introduces the reader to the work of one or more playwrights and to a way of thinking about plays. Together they cover significant writers such as Rachel Crothers, Susan Glaspell, Lillian Hellman, Sophie Treadwell, Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Childress, Megan Terry, Ntozake Shange, Adrienne Kennedy, Wendy Wasserstein, Marsha Norman, Beth Henley and Maria Irene Fornes. Playwrights are discussed in the context of topics such as early comedy and melodrama, feminism and realism, the Harlem Renaissance, the feminist resurgence of the 1970s and feminist dramatic theory. A detailed chronology and illustrations enhance the volume, which also includes bibliographical essays on recent criticism and on African-American women playwrights before 1930.
Download or read book Top Girls written by Caryl Churchill and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marlene thinks the eighties are going to be stupendous. Her sister Joyce has her doubts. Her daughter Angie is just frightened. Since its premiere in 1982, Top Girls has become a seminal play of the modern theatre. Set during a period of British politics dominated by the presence of the newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Churchill's play prompts us to question our notions of women's success and solidarity. Its sharp look at the society and politics of the 1980s is combined with a timeless examination of women's choices and restrictions regarding career and family. This new Student Edition features an introduction by Sophie Bush, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, UK prepared with the contemporary student in mind. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains: · A chronology of the play and the playwright's life and work · an introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created · a succinct overview of the creation processes followed and subsequent performance history of the piece · an analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text · a bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.
Download or read book Feminist Theatre and Theory written by Helene Keyssar and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1996 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Act as a Feminist written by Lisa Peck and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Act as a Feminist maps a female genealogy of UK actor training practices from 1970 to 2020 as an alternative to traditional male lineages. It re-orientates thinking about acting through its intersections with feminisms and positions it as a critical pedagogy, fit for purpose in the twenty-first century. The book draws attention to the pioneering contributions women have made to actor training, highlights the importance of recognising the political potential of acting, and problematises the inequities for a female majority inspired to work in an industry where they remain a minority. Part One opens up the epistemic scope, shaping a methodology to evaluate the critical potential of pedagogic practice. It argues that feminist approaches offer an alternative affirmative position for training, a via positiva and a way to re-make mimesis. In Part Two, the methodology is applied to the work of UK women practitioners through analysis of the pedagogic exchange in training grounds. Each chapter focuses on how the broad curriculum of acting intersects with gender as technique to produce a hidden curriculum, with case studies on Jane Boston and Nadine George (voice), Niamh Dowling and Vanessa Ewan (movement), Alison Hodge and Kristine Landon-Smith (acting), and Katie Mitchell and Emma Rice (directing). The book concludes with a feminist manifesto for change in acting. Written for students, actors, directors, teachers of acting, voice, and movement, and anyone with an interest in feminisms and critical pedagogies, Act as a Feminist offers new ways of thinking and approaches to practice.
Download or read book Changed for Good written by Stacy Wolf and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-28 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this lively book, Stacy Wolf illuminates the women of American musical theater--performers, creators, and characters--from the start of the cold war to the present day, creating a new feminist history of the genre. Moving from decade to decade, Wolf highlights the assumptions that circulated about gender and sexuality at the time and then looks at the leading musicals, stressing the aspects of the plays that relate to women. The musicals discussed here are among the most beloved in the canon--"West Side Story," "Guys & Dolls," "Cabaret," and many others--with special emphasis on "Wicked."
