Signs of Life: Six Comedies of Menace

By: Joan M. Schenkar

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Synopsis: Joan Schenkar, widely regarded as America's most original female contemporary playwright, is the author of numerous experimental plays which she refers to as "comedies of menace." Bristling with wit and intelligence, the collection features Signs of Life, Cabin Fever, The Universal Wolf, Burning Desires, The Last of Hitler, and Fulfilling Koch's Postulate. These plays explore issues of feminism and gender politics, history and memory, sexuality and violence, bringing to life such figures as Gertrude Stein and Marlene Dietrich, Hitler and Eva Braun, P. T. Barnum and Henry and Alice James, Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes. Schenkar's charged language and evocative stage directions invite the reader to become both performer and audience, and the experience is enhanced both by richly evocative stage directions and illustrations from productions of the plays. Initially written to be read like novels as well as staged, the plays provide a unique theatrical experience, an experience that can only be accessed by laughter.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780819572370
Related ISBNs:: 9780819563224
Publisher:: Wesleyan University Press
Date of Addition:: 12/19/18
Copyrighted By:: Joan M. Schenkar
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Social Studies, Drama, Plays and Theater
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.