Book Reviews: 50 Women in Theatre

An inspiring fact file of powerful women in theatre, perfect for the drama department library

Part of a series called ‘50 Women in …’, this book must have been good fun and rather satisfying to research and assemble. It consists of – after a detailed 50-page introduction and a short essay about inclusivity by Gabrielle Brooks – 50 short celebrations of the contributions made to theatre by women since 1945. They are wonderfully diverse both in terms of who they are, what they've achieved and the barriers they have broken down.

Thus, the book goes from choreographer Gillian Lyne to producer Thelma Holt, director Jenny Sealey (who is deaf and runs the Graeae Theatre Company) and voice guru Cicely Berry. Actors include Audra McDonald, Meera Syal, Glenda Jackson and Judi Dench; you can also read about influential producers such as Nica Burns, actor/directors like Michelle Terry and Sudha Bhuchar and playwrights including Lynn Nottage, Moira Buffini and Bryony Lavery. Every one of them is the sort of role model the girls in our schools need. Yes, women can succeed in theatre in a wide range of roles, and we need to counteract the negativity some of our students might be confronted with.

Some of these accounts are written in the third person (Caryl Churchill, Sonia Friedman) not least because some of them are dead (Joan Littlewood, Jocelyn Herbert) or, presumably, preferred not to be interviewed. Others are presented as ‘in their own words’ and written at greater length usually in a question-and-answer format.

We learn, for example, that playwright Winsome Pinnock's ideas come from being moved by something – often an ‘incredible gem’ from a stranger. Denise Gough ran away to London from her home in Ireland, aged 15, and had a pretty difficult time. Today she feels that roles ‘come and find me’ and they're not always the ones she thought she wanted. Rachel Maza is a Yidinji from North Queensland and Meriam from the Torres Strait Island of Mer, who identifies ‘racism in all its insidious and overt forms that it comes in, in Australia’ as one of her toughest challenges. She has been artistic director of Ilbijerri Theatre since 2008.

It's an attractive hard back book on shiny paper with lots of coloured photographs. Thus, it's perfect for dipping into – or referring to – if you don't want to gobble it whole. One for the drama department library possibly. (And let's try and persuade a few sceptical parents to read it.)