Hello, My name is Nina-Jayne, I am a drama student from England. I am currently researching whether or not female playwrights are restricting themselves to move into mainstream theatre by society's perceptions on their subject matter. I am also looking into how female playwrights portray men in the work. I was wondering if you could point me in the direction where I could find information. Many thanks, Nina-Jayne

Unfortunately, I'm not a theatre expert so I can't answer your question. However, as an observer of the theatre, I can say I don't think that women should be blamed for not moving into the mainstream. It's more likely that the mainstream hasn't really made room for those women who are knocking on the door. Not to mention the fact that the theatre certainly hasn't changed enough so as to value female forms of expression as valuable as males--therefore what men produce is still considered more valuable. As for the second part of your question--how women portray men--that's too general of a question to answer. Every person--male and female--probably has their own way of portraying men, just as they have their own way of portraying women.

To learn more about feminist theatre, you should reference the work of:

Wendy Wasserstein
Eve Ensler
Anna Deavere Smith

And many more......good luck.

—Amy