Customer Reviews

Out from Under: Texts by Women Performance Artists

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first encountered "Out From Under" in a feminist theatre theory class. Since then I have read these performance texts at least a dozen times and love them more with every reading. Lenora Champagne has compiled an exceptional collection of performance texts by women from many different origins and political agendas. She includes in this compilation Karen Finley's "The Constant State of Desire," Holly Hughes' "World without End," Lenny Sack's "The Survivor and the Translator," and Beatrice Roth's "The Father." Every piece works together to illustrate the work from a highly marginalized group that must be brought to the surface for the political theatre to continue. Moreover, many of the women in this book have other books of essays, stories, and poems. After reading Karen Finley's "The Constant State of Desire," I have become obsessed with her work and respect her for her incredible achievements to the theatre and feminist world. While I read this book in a special topics class, it should be an imperative part of any introductory theatre class and a must-read for all theatre practitioners.

I enjoyed reading the selection that Champagne has assembled, if only for the nostalgic look back at the eighties and its plethora of strong women performance artists. Having seen several of the women anthologized here perform live, it was a treat to read *some* of the pieces again.

I say some of the pieces because not all of them have aged well, and not all of them were very strong to begin with. Karen Finley is always a pleasure to read, as is Laurie Anderson, but the Anderson piece was far too short. I also found the Hughes piece strong, and I also enjoyed the Leeny Sack-- but in the rest of the book I found the selections either not the quality I know that artist(s) can produce, or seemed to be people whose work was not to my taste from the beginning.

I suspect that much of what's contained here isn't anthologized anywhere else, so if your interest lies in this direction, it's still a good book to buy. My rating reflects the unevenness of the selections rather than the value of the book itself.

As an MA candidate for a degree in English, I was assigned a thesis. I had a creative option but none of the genres were "speaking" to me until I picked this text up. Incredible plays. The playwrights speak to the audience and treat you like a friend they are sharing secrets with! Hughes's "Getting Over Tom" is wonderful. It is a woman's must have book. It also helped me write my own performance play for my MA thesis.

I loved this book. The pieces in this book are very powerful, moving and funny. Even though it's always rewarding to see performance pieces live, these translate well into text. My favorites are by Lenora Champagne and Holly Hughes. You must read this if you're interested in theater or performance art.