Description:
"In this exciting new anthology, Wesley Brown and Aimée K. Michel bring together six wonderfully teachable plays by some of the greatest American women dramatists of the past fifty years-- Ntozake Shange, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, Lynn Nottage, Beth Henley, and Susan Yankowitz. The editors provide a helpful Introduction to the last 100 years of theatrical activity, from suffrage and anti-lynching plays, through the explosive 1960s, to recent Broadway triumphs, highlighting women's struggle-a struggle that continues--to put their vision and voices on the American stage." Elin Diamond, Rutgers University, USA
This volume celebrates the iconoclastic power of six American women playwrights who pushed the boundaries of the form outside the box of conventional drama. Each play is accompanied by a short introduction providing the biographical background of the playwright as well as discussing the dramatic style of her writing, the extent to which her work is informed by major playwrights of the period, and how the specific work illustrates the overarching themes of her body of work. The plays included are:Gun by Susan Yankowitz
Spell #7: geechee jibara quik magic trance manual for
technologically stressed third world people by Ntozake Shange
The Jacksonian by Beth Henley
The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel
In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks
Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage
Brief description: Ntozake Shange was born in Trenton, New Jersey and educated at Barnard College and the University of Southern California, where she received an MA in American Studies. Her choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enufbrought her Broadway success and international recognition. She is the author of an acclaimed adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Childrenand has written three novels: Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo; Betsey Brown; and Liliane. Her poetry includes nappy edges, A Daughter's Geography, Ridin' the Moon in Texas and From Okra to Greens. Her first collection of plays was published by Methuen Drama in 1978.
Review Quotes:
"This important collection from unjustifiably less well-known American theatre giants confirms their place in the Western theatrical and literary canon, and crucially champions women's voices and vision on stage over a fifty year period." --Drama Magazine
"This much-needed collection fills a major gap in our sense of the writers for the American theatre. Here assembled are not just the "greatest hits" among the plays written by women, but a coherent and thorough examination of the many careers and voices that have shaped the stage for the last century. " --Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director at Hartford Stage, USA "In this exciting new anthology, Wesley Brown and Aimée K. Michel bring together six wonderfully teachable plays by some of the greatest American women dramatists of the past fifty years-- Ntozake Shange, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, Lynn Nottage, Beth Henley, and Susan Yankowitz. The editors provide a helpful Introduction to the last 100 years of theatrical activity, from suffrage and anti-lynching plays, through the explosive 1960s, to recent Broadway triumphs, highlighting women's struggle-a struggle that continues--to put their vision and voices on the American stage." --Elin Diamond, Rutgers University, USA