International Women Stage Directors

France

France Kate Bredeson1 There is no correct way to refer to a woman who practices stage directing in France. All French nouns are gendered, and the term for director (le metteur en scène) is masculine. Some women stage directors go by metteur en scène femme or femme metteur en scène (basically, “director woman” or “woman director”); others call themselves metteuse en scène or metteure en scène, adding a feminine ending to the masculine term. As Marie-Josée Brakha points out, this terminology is unsettling. Using only the masculine form of the word, she argues, “[I]t allows us once again to deny women their place in history: . . . it tells you that only men practice these noble trades rightfully, that women have never become prominent in them and have never achieved anything noteworthy in these domains. And it seems bizarre to call oneself ‘woman director.’ . . . You don’t say ‘man-writer’” (Brakha 9). There is a general sense of unease and a relative lack of information about the state of French women stage directors. Many theatre scholars and practitioners can only name one or possibly two French women who direct for the stage. Yet many women directors have succeeded in France. The story of French women theatre directors shows how women have worked with and against the grammar that confines them, made space for themselves on and off stages throughout centuries, and redefined collaboration in the artistic process. Women’s Rights: Historical Context French history is marked by significant moments of feminist activity, as well as several sustained waves of feminism. In 1791 playwright Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen, a revision of the French Revolution document the Declaration of the Rights of Man, in which she substituted “woman” for “man” in every instance of the word’s occurrence. During the 1848 revolution, feminists founded a newspaper, advocating equal rights for men and women in the new republic, and an active women’s union organized during the Paris Commune in 1871. In 1903 Jeanne Schmahl founded the French Union for Women’s Suffrage, and women replaced men at work in both world wars. French women gained the right to vote in April 1944. In 1949 Simone de Beauvoir published The Second Sex, a landmark interdisciplinary meditation on the role of women in society; in this and her other works de Beauvoir calls into question women’s agency, duties, and sense of being “other” in society. The events of May 1968—a time of massive rupture in the political and cultural sphere, marked by enormous protests, strikes, and the occupations of factories, universities , and the Odéon National Theatre—were a rallying point for the feminist movement, known as the MLF, the Movement for the Liberation of Women (Mouvement de libération des femmes). Feminists at this time rallied largely around issues of gender equity in the workplace and rights to abortion and birth control. In April 1971 the “Manifesto of the 343” was published, signed by de Beauvoir, writer Marguerite Duras, and other women who admitted to having had abortions. The law prohibiting abortion was repealed three years later, and in 1974 the French League for the Rights of Women was founded. Writers including Hélène Cixous, Monique Wittig, and Julie Kristeva published significant works that often engaged in the psychoanalytic turn associated with French feminism of this time. Since 2000, a primary concern of French feminists has been the question of “otherness,” not only about gender but also about class, race, and immigrant rights. This speaks to the changing demographics of France and the continued marginalization of large parts of the French population. In the wake of decolonization, France has seen increasing numbers of first-generation French born of immigrants from formerly colonized countries in North Africa, as well as large numbers of undocumented immigrants. Feminist organizations were founded to combat continued violence against women in immigrant-heavy areas outside of major cities. The first decade of the twenty-first century was also significant for women in politics: in 2007 Ségolène Royal became the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the presidential candidacy; she ran and lost against Nicholas Sarkozy. Early Women Directors Women have long made significant and vital contributions to theatre in France. They appeared as performers in medieval mystery plays and some—like Madeleine and Armande Béjart—had significant roles in early companies and...