Author Description

From Aristophanes to Split Britches, gender and performance have been inextricably linked to the stage. In a wide-ranging series of essays Re-Dressing the Canon examines the relationship and posits ways in which the self-referential conventions of theatre can reveal the performative element of gender. Analysing both canonical texts and contemporary productions in a lively, jargon-free prose style, Re-Dressing the Canon finds feminist fissures within the performance conventions of patriarchal drama. Among the dramatic texts considered are those of: * Aristophanes * Ibsen * Yiddish theatre * Mabou Mines * Deborah Warner * Shakespeare * Brecht * Ridiculous Theatre * Split Britches Tony Kushner. Alisa Solomon moves beyond psychoanalytic approaches that have dominated feminist theatre criticism of the last decade, offering a new technique for investigating the relationship between theatre and gender. Re-Dressing the Canon bridges the boundary between theory and practice to make for a highly stimulating volume for theorists, students, contemporary performance-goers and practitioners alike.