Plays by American women, 1930-1960

This landmark anthology reveals the depth and scope of women's dramatic voices during the middle years of this century. Among the eight plays in the volume are smart comedies and poignant tragedies, political agitprop and surrealist fantasies, established classics and neglected treasures. Hallie Flanagan and Margaret Ellen Clifford's Can You Hear Their Voices? uses presentational techniques to expose the suffering of starving farmers while Shirley Graham's It's Morning offers a moving account of the plight of African American mothers under slavery. In contrast to these are The Women, Clare Boothe's biting satire of high society "ladies," and Goodbye, My Fancy, Fay Kanin's romantic comedy about women's education in the conservative post-WWII era. Lillian Hellman's celebrated The Little Foxes shows what happens when an ambitious woman is denied access to the money and power she covets. The Mother of Us All is Gertrude Stein's witty send-up of America's forefathers and celebration of suffragist Susan B. Anthony. . Jane Bowles' In the Summer House is a surrealist look at mother-daughter relationships that one critic called "a work of intricate and seductive beauty." Alice Childress' Trouble in Mind is an indictment of racism and sexism on the American stage that Arthur Gelb of the New York Times applauded as "a fresh, lively and cutting satire...full of vitality."