Dr, Lincoln Konkle
Thursday 5:30pm-8:20pm
Since the turn of the century there has been much discussion of the continued dominance of men in the American theatre. However, if one gets the impression that historically there have been few female playwrights, that is inaccurate. Women dramatists have had their plays produced in England, America, Ireland, and the European continent since the 17th century. In this section of LIT 499, “Women Playwrights,” we will study primarily 20th-century plays (and two or three 21st-century plays) written by women. This does not mean every play will necessarily have gender as its focus (though most of them will); after all, women can write about the infinite number of subjects, just as men can. However, we will make use of some feminist or gender theory (Judith Butler, at the least) as we read 13-14 plays by brilliant female dramatists from the U.S., Britain, and the Continent (e.g., Susan Glaspell, Lillian Hellman, Ntozake Shange, Wendy Wasserstein, Caryl Churchill, Yasmina Reza, and TCNJ alum Sheila Callaghan). We will also be attending a campus performance of The Antipodes by Annie Baker staged by local repertory company Shakespeare ’70, with some cast and crew coming to class for Q & A before students write a paper on The Antipodes: the page versus stage.