American Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth Century (review)

{ 256 } Book Reviews companies such as Repertorio Español, of New York City, or Teatro de la Luna, of Washington, D.C. First published in Drama Review in 1996, the translation by Christopher Winks is excellent. The title sets the tone for this collection with its multivalent meanings, each word ripe for discussion and debate: “stages,” “conflict,” “performance,” and indeed the very term “Latin Ameri­ can,” which the editors point out was a French invention in the time of Napoleon III. Thus, the reader should not expect to find plays that uphold the status quo or fail to question the hierarchy, especially those pieces that have been produced in the twentieth and twenty-­ first centuries. What binds these disparate plays together is a sense that much remains to be done to improve the lives of the subaltern and even middle-­ class citizens of the countries represented and beyond. A footnote points out that none of the plays are representative of U.S. Latina and Latino playwrights, performers, or collectives, which is understandable , given the limited space and time. However, the footnote lists only two anthologies of plays by U.S. Latinos as representative of the many playwrights who call themselves Chicano, Cuban Ameri­ can, Dominican, or Puerto Rican. Here again the uninitiated in this country may be unaware of the important artistic and political contributions of U.S. Latina and Latino theatre artists. But this minor detail pales in view of the scholarship and creativity of this collection . This volume is most important as a document of well-­ known and virtually unknown plays, rituals, and performances that stand as a testament to a long and vital history. It will remain the standard for years to come and should inspire other such collections. Jorge Huerta — Chancellor’s Associates Professor of Theatre Emeritus University of California, San Diego \ \ Ameri­ can Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth Century. By Anne Fliotsos and Wendy Vierow. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2008. 488 pp. $60.00 cloth. Rethinking gender bias in the theatre has recently come back into sharp focus. In June 2009 more than 160 playwrights and producers met to hear the results of a year-­ long study about bias in the presentation of women playwrights (Patricia Cohen,“Rethinking Gender Bias,” New York Times, June 24, 2009, C1). { 257 } Book Reviews This symposium followed a standing-­ room-­ only town hall meeting in Octo­ ber 2008 at which women playwrights aired grievances about the difficulties of being produced to representatives from leading off-­ Broadway and nonprofit NewYork theatres.Oskar Eustis,artistic director of the Public Theatre,was succinct in his response to this event in a New York Times article: “It’s harder for women playwrights and directors [because] it’s harder for professional women in the United States” (Patricia Cohen,“Charging Bias by Theatres,” October 25, 2008, C1). The authors of Ameri­ can Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth Century would certainly agree. Anne Fliotsos and Wendy Vierow frame their excellent book with a premise—there are not enough women directors working professionally in Ameri­ can theatre. The authors suggest that one of the major obstacles for women directors is a lack of role models (25). This book goes a long way to correct that particular obstacle by providing fifty profiles of women who have made significant contributions to Ameri­ can directing over the past century . They have extensively documented their profiles, providing sources and representative directing credits at the end of each entry. Also, in appendix C they provide an introductory “General Bibliography on Women Directors” for further reading. The title of the book delimits the study—the authors state that the directors must have been born in the United States or have had the major portion of their careers there, and their achievements must be significant, influential in their own time, and have a pioneering or innovative quality (3). The profiles are prefaced by a concise but thorough introduction that contextualizes the book in terms of similar works, provides a brief history of women managers and directors from Caroline Neuber to Laura Keene, and discusses gender issues that affect the work of women directors. These issues include the “glass ceiling” of Broadway...