Ruth Maleczech at Mabou Mines: Woman's Work

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Constituting the first comprehensive look at Ruth Maleczechs work, Jessica Braters companion is a landmark study in innovative theatre practice, bringing together biography, critical analysis, and original interviews to establish a portrait of this Obie-award winning theatre artist. Tracing Maleczechs background, training, and influences, the volume contextualizes her work and the founding of Mabou Mines within the wider landscape of American avant-garde theatre. It considers her performances and productions, revealing both her interest in making ordinary women important onstage, and her predilection for resurrecting extraordinary women from history and finding their resonances within a contemporary theatrical context. Brater considers Maleczechs investment in redrawing the boundaries of what women are allowed to say, both on stage and off, and shows how her commitment to radical artistic and production risks has reshaped the contours of a contemporary theatrical experience. Highlights of the volume include discussion of productions such as Mabou Mines Lear, Dead End Kids, Hajj, Lucias Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, Red Beads, and La Divina Caricatura, as well as a close look at Maleczechs final work-in-progress, Imagining the Imaginary Invalid.

Reviews

Jessica Silsby Braters important Ruth Maleczech at Mabou Mines: Womans Work is the first book devoted to the work of the legendary performer and director The book offers not biography but rather a historicized thematic structure that provides illuminating connections between works [It] makes a significant contribution to the growing body of scholarship on female artists who helped to found group theatres in the 1960s and 1970s and who have created in those groups influential interdisciplinary performances. * Modern Drama *
Jessica Silsby Braters examination of the life and work of Ruth Maleczech solidifies Maleczechs role as one of the Godmothers of the US experimental theatre movement of the latter half of the 20th century Braters documentation and survey of Maleczechs achievements is a fitting tribute to a fearless pioneer of the American theatre. * TDR: The Drama Review *

Author Bio

Jessica Silsby Brater works in the Department of Theatre at Barnard College, New York, USA, and serves as a Teaching Artist at the Marymount School Drama Department in New York City. She is the founding Artistic Director of the Brooklyn-based company Polybe + Seats and holds a PhD in Theatre Studies from The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA.