Alexis Greene

Women Writing Plays: Three Decades of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Alexis Greene

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Avail. in cloth. Table of Contents: Foreword by Emilie S. Kilgore Acknowledgments and Note to Readers Introduction: Women Writing Plays by Marsha Norman Part One: Breaking the Silence 1 Social Change, Artistic Ferment The U. S. A. by Charlotte Canning The U. K. by Elizabeth Swain 2 Entering the Mainstream: The Plays of Beth Henley, Marsha Norman, and Wendy Wasserstein by Mel Gussow 3 A Conversation: Timberlake Wertenbaker, Max Stafford-Clark, and Michael Billington Part Two: Facing the World 4 The Female Gaze by Emily Mann 5 Women and War: The Plays of Emily Mann, Lavonne Mueller, Shirley Lauro, Naomi Wallace, Shirley Gee, and Anne Devlin by Alexis Greene 6 Our Bodies, Ourselves Memoir of a Sexual Woman by Sharman MacDonald An Excerpt from the Play Sweeping the Nation by Susan Miller Standing at the Crossroads by Pearl Cleage 7 Engaging Social Issues, Expressing a Political Outlook by Gwynn MacDonald 8 Crossing Borders: A Conversation with Bridget Carpenter, Lynn Nottage, Dael Orlandersmith, and Diana Son Part Three: The Art of the Playwright 9 Whose Voices Are These? The Arts of Language in the Plays of Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, and Diana Son by Amy S. Green 10 First-Person Singular: Female Writers Embrace the One-Person Play by Mandy Greenfield 11 Women's Imaginations: Experimenting with Theatrical Form by Carole Woddis 12 Joking Aside: A Conversation about Comedy with Christopher Durang, Gina Gionfriddo, Sarah Ruhl, and Wendy Wasserstein Part Four: The Expanding World of Women's Plays 13 The Freedom to Create by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti 14 Beyond the U. S. A, Beyond the U. K. A View from South Africa by Fatima Dike A View from Australia by Peta Tait A View from New Zealand by Jean Betts A View from Canada by Judith Thompson 15 New Voices by Alexis Greene 16 Prescriptions for a Playwriting Life Dear Emily: On Being a Playwright by Timberlake Wertenbaker Afterword by Bill Blackburn Appendix: The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize About the Contributors Permissions and Credits IndexPublisher Marketing: 'Women Writing Plays' presents a comprehensive overview of women's playwriting in English, and celebrates the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the most respected award given to women playwrights.

Contributor Bio:  Greene, Alexis Alexis Greene, of New York City, is an author, editor, theater critic, and dramaturg, with a special interest in theater and women's history. Contributor Bio:  Norman, Marsha Kentucky-based playwright Marsha Norman was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for "'night, Mother" and a Tony Award for her Broadway-musical adaptation of "The Secret Garden," Her other plays include "Getting Out," "Third and Oak," "Circus Valentine," "The Holdup," and "Traveler in the Dark,"