Feminist Theatre - Then and Now

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.

Includes:

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

Elaine Aston is Professor of Theatre at Lancaster University. She has a distinguished record of publication in the field of feminism, theatre, theory and performance. Her first monograph, a biography of the nineteenth-century actress, Sarah Bernhardt, appeared in 1989, and was followed by Feminism and Theatre (1995); Caryl Churchill (1997; 2001; 2010); Feminist Theatre Practice (1999); Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990-2000 (2003); Performance Practice and Process: Contemporary [Women] Practitioners (2007; with Gerry Harris) and A Good Night Out, for the Girls (2012; with Gerry Harris). She is co-author of the highly influential text on theatre semiotics: Theatre as Sign-System (1991; with George Savona). Elaine has edited two collections of plays for the Women’s Theatre Group (Her story Volumes 1 & 2, 1991). Other collections include the Cambridge Companions to Modern British Women Playwrights (2000; with Janelle Reinelt) and to Caryl Churchill (2009; with Elin Diamond); Feminist Futures?: Theatre, Performance, Theory (2006; with Gerry Harris); and Staging International Feminisms (2007; with Sue-Ellen Case). With Mark O’Thomas she published the first full-length study devoted to the work of the Royal Court’s International department: Royal Court International (2015).

Elaine is a founding member of the Feminist Research Working Group of the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), and has co-convened the group with Professor Sue-Ellen Case (UCLA). She was the Senior Editor of the IFTR journal Theatre Research International (2010 to 2012) and went on to be elected Vice President of IFTR for Publications and Internalisation. With Professor Brian Singleton (Trinity College, Dublin) she is the co-series editor for ’Contemporary Performance InterActions’ (Palgrave Macmillan).

In 2014 Elaine was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University.