Philadelphia Weekly

Throughout its history, theater has been dominated by men. Patriarchal and at times misogynistic, plays are typically written, directed and—more often than not—performed primarily by white men. Because of this, audiences usually see a male perspective on stage. In a medium that explores the human experience, we’re only getting half the story.

This year’s Philly Fringe, however, includes an impressive number of works that speak directly to the experiences of women. PW spoke with artists involved with five Fringe productions addressing women’s experiences, and asked them about the underrepresentation of women’s issues, experiences and concerns in theater.

Produced by the acclaimed Melanie Stewart Dance Theater in collaboration with otherWords Theater, Charlotte Delbo’s powerful drama Who Will Carry the Word? (Sept. 13-26) is the true story of Delbo’s life as a prisoner at Auschwitz. Even in this bleak place, Delbo and the other women in the camp have a goal: to keep the strongest alive so one day they can tell the story of their imprisonment.

Although many plays have communicated the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, the show’s director Anthony Hostetter says Word addresses the topic from a unique point of view. “It is rare to hear a woman’s voice coming out of Auschwitz. The female experience was compounded by the humiliation of losing all remnants of female identity, from hair, to menstrual cycles to emotional and nurturing identity,” he explains.


Another work that explores the female experience in a historical context is Emma’s Parlour (Sept. 15-18), which weaves two separate projects in an investigation of gender identity. The Gender Portraiture Project , a series of installations by Laureen Griffin, depicts period rooms in historic homes as a comment on gender identity. 


Occupying the same space is Martina Plag and Leah Walton’s miniature theater adaptation of Howard Zinn’s Emma . A highly theatrical work in which birdcages are transformed into prisons and gramophones become spacious wedding halls, the play dramatizes the life of activist Emma Goldman. A co-founder of Planned Parenthood, Goldman was a progressive voice for the rights of women, a stance that often landed her in jail. Although Emma specifically addresses issues relating to women’s struggle for equality, Plag (who created, directs and performs the piece with Walton) says that she wants to be known for her work—not her gender. “I do not want to be limited or labeled into a specific ‘women’s’ category. It insults my art, and presents it as reactionary rather than as an innovative and creative endeavor,” Plag explains. 


If women’s views are underrepresented in theater, the experiences of African-American women are even rarer (the Arden’s spectacular 2008 production of Gee’s Bend was a welcome exception). 


Raw Fruit Theater Troupe focuses on the experiences of black women as seen in their new production A Taste of Sisterhood: Learning to Swim (Sept. 4-6). A compilation of three plays from female African-American dramatists (Kristen Greenidge’s Learning to Swim , an abridged version of Elaine Jackson’s Toe Jam and excerpts from Ntozake Shange’s groundbreaking For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf ), the intent of the production is “to celebrate womanhood in its various facets,” says Raw Fruit co-founder LaNeshe Miller. She explains that although women characters in plays aren’t rare, their stories are often told from a male point of view. “In many instances women are seen as parts of the male protagonist’s story, rather than having their own story to tell. Even when women’s stories are being told, they are often in relation to the man/men in their lives.”


Addressing women’s concerns from an entirely different perspective is a key goal of the interdisciplinary piece Her Body Cannot Tell a Lie (Sept. 10 and Sept. 12). Drawn from the work of psychotherapist Ellen Gayda, who has spent years helping women explore their “inner makeup,” Lie seeks to expose the relationship between women’s emotional state and their physical bodies. In collaboration with choreographer Kun-Yang Lin, the piece incorporates spoken word and dance to “reveal the emotions inhabited throughout the anatomy of the body.” Depicting healing as a creative process, the dancer’s movements give shape to the varied and often subtle nuances of women’s emotions. According to Gayda, “It [the arts] is by far the most direct and inviting way to support the needed paradigm shift in world consciousness to honor, protect and respect women’s rights.” 


Perhaps the most unique exploration of gender at the Fringe is director Rowen Haigh’s production of Creditors (Sept. 4-12). Penned by revered dramatist and infamous misogynist August Strindberg in 1888, the play (translated by Elizabeth Sprigge) concerns a woman named Tekla who is identified only in terms of her male partner (a situation found in far too many contemporary plays). 


Strindberg portrays Tekla as a woman entirely reliant on her husband for intellectual status and professional success—a condescending and unflattering portrait. Haigh casts the play entirely with women to undercut Strindberg’s message of female inferiority and to reveal the play’s “anti-female sentiment as ridiculous, inaccurate and arcane.” Haigh believes theater artists and audiences (regardless of gender) need to be conscious of the fact that there are issues and experiences unique to women. “Artists of all genders—male, female, trans—need to engage with the fact that women have a distinct experience in the world and that that experience should be explored through the arts,” Haigh says. “And audiences of all stripes need to demand that exploration. They need to tell the arts community and the producers that they value and are interested in women’s issues and experiences and want to see those engaged with on stage.” ■

For tickets and show times call 215.413.1318 or visit livearts-fringe.org.