Post by foxa on Sept 29, 2018 14:43:36 GMT
There is also more of an emphasis on youth and being a fresh voice for women. Think of all the female playwrights who has struck big when very young - sometimes even teens. Frequently they are writing about coming of age; sexuality or family (particularly mother/daughter relationships.) Which is great. But then it suddenly falls off - no developing into a middle-aged female writer with a wider range of subjects. Interesting quote from the playwright of Octoroon about this: “Well” — Jacobs-Jenkins slows down just a little — “when I talk to American playwrights, there is a sense that the plays you’re writing over there are formally conservative. You seem to have a lot of first plays written by very young women who then disappear, and by a few youngish men who write very quickly and get all their work produced, but their plays are like New Yorker articles.”
I've read some female playwrights of note comment on this. One said she said, only partly in jest, that she thought there could only be three successful female playwrights at any given time - when a new one came along one of the older ones had to bugger off. Another said she had been told by a literary manger or artistic director that his ideal new playwright would be someone who had not only never written a play before, but never seen one. The playwright as found object rather than craftsperson/artist. I suspect so that the director could then play a Svengali role, until he lost interest. Another said there was was more interest in depicting attractive young women's stories (both as writer and as protagonist.) Putting Caryl Churchill to one side because she is the genius who proves the rule, Britain has very few examples of female playwrights who have been able to extend their careers through middle-age - though with some of the brilliant writers coming up I hope that will not be the case (though they may all be snapped up film or tv.) Lastly, I think there is a lack of creative partnerships between powerful directors/artistic directors with female playwrights, which is probably the most important thing for sustaining a career in major spaces.
But I will also put in one caveat. I have heard from more than one female director that they receive many more unsolicited plays from men and that women are more apologetic when approaching them.
I've read some female playwrights of note comment on this. One said she said, only partly in jest, that she thought there could only be three successful female playwrights at any given time - when a new one came along one of the older ones had to bugger off. Another said she had been told by a literary manger or artistic director that his ideal new playwright would be someone who had not only never written a play before, but never seen one. The playwright as found object rather than craftsperson/artist. I suspect so that the director could then play a Svengali role, until he lost interest. Another said there was was more interest in depicting attractive young women's stories (both as writer and as protagonist.) Putting Caryl Churchill to one side because she is the genius who proves the rule, Britain has very few examples of female playwrights who have been able to extend their careers through middle-age - though with some of the brilliant writers coming up I hope that will not be the case (though they may all be snapped up film or tv.) Lastly, I think there is a lack of creative partnerships between powerful directors/artistic directors with female playwrights, which is probably the most important thing for sustaining a career in major spaces.
But I will also put in one caveat. I have heard from more than one female director that they receive many more unsolicited plays from men and that women are more apologetic when approaching them.