Making a Spectacle

Making a Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women's Theatre, edited by Lynda Hart, illuminates the dynamic intersection of feminism and theatre. This volume brings together scholars and practitioners to analyze, theorize, and celebrate the rich diversity and subversive power of contemporary women’s playwriting and performance. Spanning theoretical essays, close readings, and case studies, the book confronts both the historical marginalization and the creative strategies of women playwrights from the late twentieth century. Contributors explore how women have challenged patriarchal norms, re-envisioned dramatic structures, politicized theatrical space, and foregrounded issues of gender, sexuality, race, and class. Essays address influential artists and movements in American and British theatre, highlighting voices such as Caryl Churchill, Ntozake Shange, Maria Irene Fornes, Tina Howe, and groups like the WOW Café. From interrogating the male gaze and the politics of representation to celebrating collectivity and experimenting with language, Making a Spectacle considers the ways women theatre artists resist and reinvent the conventions of stage and story. Insightful, provocative, and accessible, this collection is essential reading for scholars, students, theatre-makers, and anyone interested in feminist performance, cultural criticism, or the artistry of women who have reclaimed the stage.