FEMINIST THEATRE THEN & NOW: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
Cheryl Robson
Elaine Aston
FEMINIST THEATRE THEN & NOW: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS is a comprehensive collection of essays and interviews from women in theatre through a feminist lens. The text picks up in the middle of the 1970s and continues until today. It spans 50 years and reflects where we’ve come from, where we have been, how far we have come, and how far we still have to go.
I like that each section contains an essay and an interview portion. The essays provide an introduction and freedom to share their experiences with feminism and theatre over the years. The interviews give a structure; they are just one example of how varied the essayists are.
I see FEMINIST THEATRE THEN & NOW being used for research, yes, but I also see it prominently displayed on your coffee table. I see reading a section at a time over the course of a month or two, and I see it as an exceptional book to share with someone younger than you, perhaps entering adulthood, or graduating and entering the workforce.
It served for me as the perfect dose of inspiration as I go into my next project. It is a new lens through which to understand feminism. I appreciated the spectrum of voices from the essayist. We need the spectrum of voices to appreciate the vastness of our human experience and to appreciate what we have in common and what opposites we should cherish from each other’s arsenal.
It is inspirational, informative, and enlightening. I’m so glad I got to read it and highly recommend it!
Thanks to Ines and Aurora Metro & Supernova Books for the advanced copy and for putting this on my radar!
FEMINIST THEATRE THEN & NOW: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS…⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
PRIMA FACIE
Suzie Miller
Based on the award-winning play, PRIMA FACIE by Suzie Miller is a stunner!
Tessa Ensler has a promising career as a criminal barrister. A criminal barrister acts on behalf of the defendants in criminal cases. According to law, a person is innocent until proven guilty and part of Tessa’s job is applying that standard in her cases and giving them the best representation she can, guilty or innocent.
On what should have been a relaxed morning with the early sun and a cup of hot tea, Tessa is raped. It changes everything. Now Tessa is in the role of the victim instead of the barrister and it’s not where she wants to be. Tessa quickly learns a lesson in what it truly means to be protected by the law.
The role reversal in PRIMA FACIE is everything. The dynamics are so interesting. Who Tessa is at the beginning of the book is not who she is at the end. The change is heartbreaking to experience, and I was glad of its length when I got into the meat of the story.
It’s 288 pages long, which felt perfect. It didn’t linger to make its point. It was rather succinct, and I liked that considering the subject matter. There are a couple of hard chapters to listen to. I recommend you look up content warnings for this one if that is something you do.
Although this is tough material, it is worth your time. It is frustrating and anger-inducing and those are just a few of the good things about it.
PRIMA FACIE will be published next Tuesday, January 30, 2024. Make sure you pick up your copy and tell a friend about it.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!
PRIMA FACIE…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS
Araminta Hall
Are you ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS? If not, I bet you know one.
Cole is ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. His nails are always trimmed and clean, he’d never order for you in a restaurant (unless asked to of course), he’s thoughtful, listens, and hangs on to your every word. He has recently moved from London to a little cottage along the coast where he is trying to recover from a deeply emotional breakup. There along the coastline, he meets Lenora, and the two form a relationship as alluring as the cliffs that surround them.
At the same time, two young women are doing a charity walk that has them traversing the very same coastline where Cole and Lenora live. What happens when their paths intersect will surprise you and is the plot for Araminta Hall’s, ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS.
Hall livened up my December, put a smile on my face and singlehandedly reinvigorated my love of reading all within around 300 pages. It’s twisty and mind-bending and I couldn’t get enough.
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS is one of the good ones. It is so cool to see someone living out their passion as Hall does here. The writing is smart, the characters are memorable and distinct, and it has great, spot-on commentary running throughout. There are parallel levels of entertainment in ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS. It’s thrilling for the novice and reads like candy for the experienced.
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS is one of the best books I’ve read from 2024 and we are just getting started.
Thanks to Netgalley, Zando, and Gillian Flynn Books for the advanced copy! It was a pleasure!
ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
