In this Book

  • Memories of the Revolution: The First Ten Years of the WOW Café Theater
  • Book
  • Holly Hughes, Carmelita Tropicana, and Jill Dolan, Editors
  • 2015
  • Published by: University of Michigan Press
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summary
The women’s experimental theater space called the WOW Café (Women’s One World) has been a vital part of New York’s downtown theater scene since 1980. Since that time, WOW has provided a place for feminist and particularly lesbian theater artists to create, perform, and witness a cultural revolution. Its renowned alumnae include playwright and actor Lisa Kron, performance artists Holly Hughes and Carmelita Tropicana, the theater troupe the Five Lesbian Brothers, and actors/playwrights Peggy Shaw, Lois Weaver, and Deb Margolin, among others.

Memories of the Revolution collects scripts, interviews, and commentary to trace the riotous first decade of WOW. While the histories of other experimental theater collectives have been well documented, WOW’s history has only begun to be told. The anthology also includes photographs of and reminiscences by Café veterans, capturing the history and artistic flowering of the first ten years of this countercultural haven.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title page, Copyright
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Preface: Watching WOW
  2. Jill Dolan
  3. pp. vii-xiv
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  1. Introduction: Secret WOW
  2. Holly Hughes
  3. pp. 1-8
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  1. Introduction: Liberté, Egalité, Lesbianite
  2. Carmelita Tropicana
  3. pp. 9-13
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words: Brave New World—Group Interview by Alisa Solomon with WOW Collective Members (1984)
  2. pp. 14-27
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  1. Song: “It’s Hard to Be a Dyke in NYC”—Lynn Hayes and Debra Miller’s band, the Useless Fems
  2. p. 28
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  1. Section One
  1. Split Britches (1981)
  2. Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw, and Deb Margolin
  3. pp. 31-37
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  1. Fear of Laughing on the Lower East Side (1984)
  2. Alice Forrester
  3. pp. 38-41
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words
  2. Alice Forrester
  3. pp. 42-46
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  1. Waaay Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1986)
  2. Alison Rooney
  3. pp. 47-54
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  1. Paradykes Lost (1988)
  2. pp. 55-65
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words: A Fine Bromance
  2. pp. 66-74
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  1. Hamlet (1989): Scripted after Shakespeare’s Hamlet
  2. Deb Margolin
  3. pp. 75-82
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  1. Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (1992)
  2. Madeleine Olnek
  3. pp. 83-93
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words
  2. pp. 94-98
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  1. Section Two
  1. The Lady Dick (1985)
  2. Holly Hughes
  3. pp. 101-106
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  1. Pickaxe (1986)
  2. Ana Maria Simo
  3. pp. 107-132
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  1. O Darn! The World Is Not a Safe Place for Little Buttercups (1991)
  2. Moe Angelos, Dominique Dibbell
  3. pp. 133-142
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words
  2. Susan Young
  3. pp. 143-144
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  1. Section Three
  2. pp. 145-147
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  1. Memories of the Revolution/Memorias de la Revolucíon (1987)
  2. Carmelita Tropicana, Uzi Parnes
  3. pp. 148-153
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  1. How to Say Kaddish with Your Mouth Shut (1988)
  2. Claire Moed
  3. pp. 154-159
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  1. Threads from the Tailor’s Grand Daughters (1989)
  2. Sharon Jane Smith
  3. pp. 160-167
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words—An Interview with Sharon Jane Smith by Carmelita Tropicana (December 2001)
  2. pp. 168-171
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  1. Feeling Blue (1988)
  2. Eileen Myles
  3. pp. 172-179
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words
  2. Eileen Myles
  3. pp. 180-181
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  1. Women and Children First: Outstanding Perk or Tool of Oppression? (1992)
  2. Babs Davy
  3. pp. 182-187
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  1. WOW Women in Their Own Words: As the World Turns— Group Interview (2004)
  2. pp. 188-196
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 197-206
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  1. Further Reading
  2. pp. 207-208
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. 209-210
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  1. Image plates
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