Feminist Theatre and Theory

Feminist Theatre and Theory Feminist Theatre and Theory. Edited by Helene Keyssar. New Casebooks. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996; pp. ix + 288. $39.95 cloth, $17.95 paper.

What exactly is "feminist theatre"? What is the relationship of such theatre to feminist theory? Are certain types of theatrical composition or dramaturgy more appropriate than others to promote feminist understanding in an audience? And what might any of this mean in the daily lives of women and men? These are some of the central questions addressed by the essays in this new collection of writings on feminism and theatre. From the enormous output of recent feminist theatre and drama criticism, Helene Keyssar has brought together twelve substantial essays, which represent a variety of theoretical stances and critical approaches.

One of the central questions in the book is the value of realism as an appropriate vehicle for feminist drama. Janelle Reinelt's well-known "Beyond Brecht: Britain's New Feminist Drama" discusses the "[f]eminist transformation of Brechtian techniques" (46) in works by Caryl Churchill and Claire Luckham, among others, and suggests that such appropriation of method is especially useful for socialist-feminist works. Tracy C. Davis reaches a similar conclusion in her comparison of two plays about violence against women and women's reactions to this violence. Praising Sarah Daniels's Masterpieces for being "episodic, asequential, multiply cast, [and] employ[ing] direct...