A Theatre Of Their Own Indian Women Playwrights In Perspective

In an age where academic curriculum has essentially pushed theatre studies into ‘post-script’, and the cultural ‘space’ of making and watching theatre has been largely usurped by the immense popularity of television and ‘mainstream’ cinemas, it is important to understand why theatre still remains a ‘space’ to be reckoned as one’s ‘own’. This book argues for a ‘theatre’ of ‘their own’ of the Indian women playwrights (and directors), and explores the possibilities that modern Indian theatre can provide as an instrument of subjective as well as social/ political/ cultural articulations and at the same time analyses the course of Indian theatre which gradually underwent broadening of thematic and dramaturgic scope in order to accommodate the independent voices of the women playwrights and directors.

Creating a Profession: Disparate Voices of Indian Women Playwrights is a collection of plays demonstrating a broad variety of contemporary perspectives as told through the eyes of the women who created them. The anthology is enhanced by significant interviews between each writer and the editor and an introduction filled with information about the profession of playwriting throughout India. Details include the challenges of multiple languages throughout the country, the lack of funding and rehearsal spaces, the role of censorship, the need for specific training, and the influence of gender upon these writer’s ability to find what one woman called “brain space” given the continuation of traditional gender expectations.

Contributed articles presented at a seminar hosted by Andhra University on 20th century women authors from India.

This anthology includes twelve hitherto unpublished plays by women translated into English from major Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. Each text is accompanied by an outline of the scenario of the regional drama activity, a brief biographical sketch of the playwright, a glossary and an index.

Feminist Views on the English Stage, first published in 2003, is an exciting and insightful study on drama from a feminist perspective, one that challenges an idea of the 1990s as a 'post-feminist' decade and pays attention to women's playwriting marginalized by a 'renaissance' of angry young men. Working through a generational mix of writers, from Sarah Kane, the iconoclastic 'bad girl' of the stage, to the 'canonical' Caryl Churchill, Elaine Aston charts the significant political and aesthetic changes in women's playwriting at the century's end. Aston also explores writing for the 1990s in theatre by Sarah Daniels, Bryony Lavery, Phyllis Nagy, Winsome Pinnock, Rebecca Prichard, Judy Upton and Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Focusing on post-1956 British women playwrights, this book questions to what extent transformations in women's lives have impacted on theatre. Contributing to a range of discourses, including gender studies, cultural studies and theatre and performance studies, this timely volume is crucial to our understanding of women's drama in this period.

Contributed articles.