Theatre and feminist aesthetics /

Though this is a helpfully annotated volume of essays, its attempts to be nonprescriptive forfeit true dialogue about aesthetic theory and feminist theater. Specific studies of plays, playwrights, and theater artists range across cultures (Australia, Quebec, Russia, French Caribbean, England), yet they rarely build interest in a full exploration of the inherent oxymoron of an aesthetic theory of political theater. Most who approach the issue either favor pluralism or suggest alternatives. "Aesthetics of Marginality" defines Joan Littlewood and Buzz Goodbody's directorial innovations; very little inquiry is devoted to a tradition of aesthetics. In Patti Gillespie's informative essay, Aristotle is reduced to a proscriber of form; Brecht and a feminist extension of Marxist criticism seem the only valid touchstones to mainstream theatrical tradition. Recent feminist performance theory has become spectator focused, but no contributor explores catharsis as political conversion. These case studies of underexamined playwrights may perpetuate the assumption that feminist theorists write only for themselves. The publishers grant reproduction rights of individual essays for a fee. No doubt those most in demand will be the essays on Marsha Norman's and Caryl Churchill's plays and on Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun--because author Sheri Parks connects black feminist aesthetics to the availability of the play's videotape and thus makes accessibility to a wider audience an important feature of her analysis. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. E. Gates; Jacksonville State University