Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Re-Dressing the Canon examines the relationship between gender and performance in a series of essays which combine the critique of specific live performances with an astute theoretical analysis. Alisa Solomon discusses both canonical texts and contemporary productions in a lively jargon-free style. Among the dramatic texts considered are those of Aristophanes, Ibsen, Yiddish theatre, Mabou Mines, Deborah Warner, Shakespeare, Brecht, Split Britches, Ridiculous Theatre, and Tony Kushner.
Bringing to bear theories of 'gender performativity' upon theatrical events, the author explores:
* the 'double disguise' of cross-dressed boy-actresses
* how gender relates to genre (particularly in Ibsens' realism)
* how canonical theatre represented gender in ways which maintain traditional images of masculinity and femininity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [179]-200) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction : how easy is a bush suppos'd a bear -- Much virtue in if : Shakespeare's cross-dressed boy-actresses and the non-illusory stage -- The new drama and the new woman : reconstructing Ibsen's realism -- Materialist girl : The good person of Szechwan and making gender strange -- Queering the canon : Azoi toot a yid -- Three canonical crossings. Cracking nature's mold : Mabou Mines re-engenders Lear ; People don't do such things : Charles Ludlam's Hedda ; Epic fornications : Bloolips and Split Britches do Tennessee -- Epilogue : not just a passing fancy : notes on butch.