The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights

This Companion, first published in 2000, addresses the work of women playwrights in Britain throughout the twentieth century. The chapters explore the historical and theatrical contexts in which women have written for the theatre and examine the work of individual playwrights. A chronological section on playwriting from the 1920s to the 1970s is followed by chapters which raise issues of nationality and identity. Later sections question accepted notions of the canon and include chapters on non-mainstream writing, including black and lesbian performance. Each section is introduced by the editors, who provide a narrative overview of a century of women’s drama and a thorough chronology of playwriting, set in political context. The collection includes essays on the individual writers Caryl Churchill, Sarah Daniels, Pam Gems and Timberlake Wertenbaker as well as extensive documentation of contemporary playwriting in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including figures such as Liz Lochhead and Anne Devlin.

Reviews of The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights

"An astute gender-based analysis useful as both companion and primer." Choice ."..an excellent companion. Most importantly, it achieves factual and intellectual coverage without enforcing intellectual and creative containment…The collection is also dynamic in that it is authored by writers with a range of styles and approaches who nevertheless always foreground argument, contextual information, and suggestions for further reading beyond the canonical limits if this book's covers. The Companion's range is complemented by the editor's notes that introduce each part, as well as by photographic illustrations and a very welcome index, which facilitates topic searches across the collection's various entries." Modern Drama ..".an excellent companion. Most importantly, it achieves factual and intellectual coverage without enforcing intellectual and creative containment…The collection is also dynamic in that it is authored by writers with a range of styles and approaches who nevertheless always foreground argument, contextual information, and suggestions for further reading beyond the canonical limits if this book's covers. The Companion's range is complemented by the editor's notes that introduce each part, as well as by photographic illustrations and a very welcome index, which facilitates topic searches across the collection's various entries." Modern Drama