Playwriting Women: Female Voices in English Canada

Judith Rudakoff is an associate professor of theatre arts at York
University at the co-editor of Dangerous Traditions: A Passe Muraille
Anthology.

This book satisfies a multiplicity of research needs. It provides
scholarly analysis of the plays of six of Canada’s female playwrights;
it intersperses the readings of their texts with information that is
part recorded fact, part oral history; it provides critical and
editorial commentary on productions; and, perhaps most important, it
establishes the notion of a body of work by senior female writers
(whether or not they are still actively writing and being produced).

Unlike many academic texts that purport to examine the work of any
group of writers, this volume maintains a tone that is at once
accessible to students and stimulating to teachers and professional
colleagues. There is a liberal use of quotations from each playwright
that ranges from commentary on their own work and various productions to
their creative processes, philosophy, and personal aesthetic. Zimmerman
wisely draws on many sources, utilizing the books, periodicals, and
journals that have chronicled the work of these six writers. In so
doing, she is able to provide a broad range of opinions and
interpretations.

Although Zimmerman, in her introduction, goes to great lengths to
explain her choice of playwrights, there are still some questionable
inclusions and exclusions. Why, for example, was Judith Thompson
included and not Ann-Marie MacDonald or Joan McLeod? If Zimmerman’s
intention is to highlight the careers of senior playwrights, then surely
MacDonald and McLeod are as senior as Thompson in terms of production
history, critical and popular acclaim, awards, and publications. As
well, the inclusion of Ritter is somewhat curious. Known primarily as
the author of the extremely successful Automatic Pilot, Ritter has moved
on to work as a broadcast journalist. Notwithstanding these small
quibbles, this book is a welcome and solid addition to the growing
number of full-length studies of plays and productions by and about
woman playwrights.