Maria Irene Fornes is the most influential female American dramatist of the 20th century.
That is the argument of this important new study, the first to assess Fornes's complete body
of work. Scott T. Cummings considers comic sketches, opera libretti and unpublished pieces,
as well as her best-known plays, in order to trace the evolution of her dramaturgy from the
whimsical Off-Off Broadway plays of the 1960s to the sober, meditative work of the 1990s.
The book also reflects on her practice as an inspirational teacher of playwriting and the …

Scott Cummings 1985 was a banneryear for Maria Irene Fornes. She has, by her own
admission,“been receiving a lot ofpraise lateb... and awards.'To a small cadre of supporters
and critics, the recognition is overdue. She is one of the few 3rd generation'off#-Broadway
playwrights to remain consistently mtive there for the past 25 years. In that time, she has
gone through several 'styles' and one pro-Longed drought. In. 1977, Fefu and Her Friends
stgnalled an important breakthrough. Fiveyears later, the Village Voice awarded her an …