Going It Alone: Plays by Women for Solo Performers

Valerie Senyk is director of theatre arts at Thorneloe College,
Laurentian University.

In her foreword to this collection of plays and monologues from 31
Canadian and international writers, Kit Brennan observes that most women
in the theatre are obliged to “go it alone.” The fact that Canadian
theatre is still largely male-centred forces women playwrights to find
their own nontraditional venues and to produce their work independently.
These pieces may not be mainstream, but they represent a stimulating
diversity of voices.

Set in Tanzania, Maija of Chaggaland, by Sheela Langeberg, is a story
of love, loyalties, independence, and courage. Patti Flather’s briskly
paced West Edmonton Mall is slice-of-life drama set in the Far North,
where dreams are pitted against racism and the inability to connect with
loved ones. Anna Fuerstenberg’s Why I Sleep Alone features a
53-year-old Montreal woman whose loud snoring has plagued all who have
slept with her; the lamentation with which she regales the audience (in
broken English) is both comic and touching. Gloria Montero’s Frida K
is perhaps the most fully realized play in the collection. Edgy,
expressionistic, and quixotic, it chronicles Frida Kahlo’s journey as
artist, revolutionary, and lover.

Going It Alone offers valuable encouragement to female playwrights and
in so doing contributes to the development of Canada’s theatre.