Women's voices on american stages in the early twenty-first century : sarah ruhl and her ... contemporaries

Women are at the center of American theatre and have the potential to shape the cultural imagination of theatre-goers as a complex new era unfolds. Sarah Ruhl, one of the twenty-first century's most honored playwrights, is read in concert with her contemporaries whose writing also wrestles with the vexing issues facing Americans in the new century. Women have claimed a spot at the center of American theatre, and the characters they craft, the stories they tell, the questions they pose, and the ideas they materialize have the potential to shape the cultural imagination of a large group of theatre-goers as a complex new era unfolds. Sarah Ruhl is the early twenty-first century's most widely produced and frequently honored American female playwright. While critics have heretofore emphasized the whimsical elements of her dramaturgy, this study highlights her feminist engagement with current social and ethical concerns. Ruhl's popular, feminist plays are best appreciated when they are read in concert with the work of her contemporaries - Lisa Loomer, Diana Son, Joan Didion, Jenny Schwartz, Young Jean Lee, Kate Fodor, Yasmina Reza, Bathsheba Doran, Lynn Nottage, and Kia Corthron - whose writing also wrestles with the vexing issues facing Americans in the new century Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction The Context for Ruhl and Her Contemporaries, or Women’s Playwriting: Strictly Prohibited in the New Century?....Pages 1-11 Educating Sarah Ruhl....Pages 13-29 Emotional Journeys....Pages 31-52 Caring Labor....Pages 53-73 Theatrical Devotion....Pages 75-98 Mobile Lines....Pages 99-129 Natural Forces....Pages 131-158 Epilogue: “The Curtain Goes Up”....Pages 159-163 Back Matter....Pages 165-215