Interviews With Contemporary Women Playwrights

In this collection of interviews, 30 women discuss some of the important issues in theater today: the position of women in the theater, gender bias in reviewing, censorship and self-censorship, racism, and women writing about domestic violence, birth and other taboo subjects. They also deal with the idea of a female aesthetic, the sources of women dramatists' imagery and language, their place as women playwrights in the tradition of women's writing. These playwrights reflect a complex, resonant impulse to illuminate the varied spectrum of female experience, and also cherish daring, innovative, challenging political plays that represent a successful rebellion against their own censorial impulses. The interviewees cover a wide spectrum of American, British, and international playwrights, including Marsha Norman and Beth Henley, Emily Mann, Caryl Churchill, Ntozake Shange, and China's woman dramatist Madame Bai Fengxi. ISBN 0-688-04405-0: $25.00.

This volume is a collection of interviews that spans feminist views from 1968 to the 1990s. Including over eight years of research. Part of the Comtemporary Theatre Studies series, it will be of special interest to everyone involved in theatre and useful to students and those who oare interested in women's theatre.

In this collection of interviews, 30 women discuss some of the important issues in theater today: the position of women in the theater, gender bias in reviewing, censorship and self-censorship, racism, and women writing about domestic violence, birth and other taboo subjects. They also deal with the idea of a female aesthetic, the sources of women dramatists' imagery and language, their place as women playwrights in the tradition of women's writing. These playwrights reflect a complex, resonant impulse to illuminate the varied spectrum of female experience, and also cherish daring, innovative, challenging political plays that represent a successful rebellion against their own censorial impulses. The interviewees cover a wide spectrum of American, British, and international playwrights, including Marsha Norman and Beth Henley, Emily Mann, Caryl Churchill, Ntozake Shange, and China's woman dramatist Madame Bai Fengxi. ISBN 0-688-04405-0: $25.00.

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was a major dramatic success and brought to the world's attention the potential talent of African American women playwrights. But in spite of Hansberry's landmark contribution, both the theater and the literary world have often failed to include contemporary African American female playwrights within the circle of production, publication, and criticism. In African American drama anthologies, female playwrights are seldom given the degree of attention that is accorded their male counterparts. And because of space constraints, anthologies of works by women playwrights are forced to exclude numerous female dramatists, including African Americans. Meanwhile, some scholars have argued that the works of African American female playwrights are seldom produced in the mainstream theater because these plays frequently challenge the views of white America. But as A Raisin in the Sun demonstrates, plays by African American women dramatists can have a powerful message and are worthy of attention. A comprehensive research tool, this annotated bibliography sheds light on the often neglected works of contemporary African American female playwrights. Included within its scope are those dramatists who have had at least one work published since 1959, the year of Hansberry's monumental achievement. The first section provides a listing of anthologies that include one or more plays written by an African American female dramatist. The second gives entries for reference works and for scholarly and critical studies of the dramatists and their plays. The third presents a listing of published plays by individual dramatists, along with a summary of each drama; the works of each playwright that are related to drama; and secondary sources that treat the dramatists and their plays. Entries are accompanied by concise but informative annotations, and the volume closes with a list of periodicals that frequently publish criticism of African American female playwrights, a section of brief biographical sketches of the dramatists, and extensive indexes.

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.

American women writers have long been creating an extraordinarily diverse and vital body of fiction, particularly in the decades since World War II. Recent authors have benefited from the struggles of their predecessors, who broke through barriers that denied women opportunities for self-expression. This reference highlights American women writers who continue to build upon the formerly male-dominated canon. Included are alphabetically arranged entries for more than 60 American women writers of diverse ethnicity who wrote or published their most significant fiction after World War II. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes:^L^DBLA brief biography^L^DBLA discussion of major works and themes^^DBLA survey of the writer's critical reception^L^DBLA bibliography of primary and secondary sources

This Guide includes the primary and secondary works and summaries of plays of 15 prominent African American women playwrights including Lorraine Hansberry, Ntozake Shange, Adrienne Kennedy, Alice Childress, Zora Neale Hurston, Georgia Douglas Johnson. During the last 10 to 15 years, critical consideration of contemporary as well as earlier black women playwrights has blossomed. Plays by black women are increasingly anthologized and two recently published anthologies devote themselves solely to black women dramatists. In light of the growing interest in scholarship concerning African American women playwrights, researchers and librarians need a bibliographical source that brings together the profiles interviews, critical material and primary sources of black female playwrights. This guide will provide a bibliographical essay reviewing the scholarship of black women playwrights as well as for each playwright: a biography, summaries of each play detailed annotations of secondary material, and list of primary sources.

A record of the First International Women Playwrights Conference, edited to bring out the highlights of discussions. With index, bibliographies of playwrights, and appendix.