American Women Theatre Critics

While the history of American theatre has been widely documented, the history of its female reviewers has been routinely overlooked. This book seeks to correct that oversight by exploring the role of the great female American critics, thereby expanding their canonical status. The anthology provides a brief description of the women’s lives, their working conditions, samples of their writing, and supporting analyses. For some readers, this will be a first encounter with women who deserve to be represented in the American theatre of their times and recognized for their contributions to the development of dramatic theory and criticism.

Alma J. Bennett is retired from the theatre department at Alderson-Broaddus College, where she taught all theatre courses and designed and directed all theatre productions. Her articles and reviews have appeared in Popular Culture Review, ATQ and Journal of Popular Culture. She received her Ph.D from the School of Theatre, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.

Alma J. Bennett
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 194
Bibliographic Info: 10 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4979-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-6025-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Preface      1

Introduction      3

18th-Century Critics

1. Charlotte Ramsey Lennox [1720–1804]      11

2. Judith Sargent Murray [1751–1820]      25

19th-Century Critics

3. Kate Field [1838–1896]      43

4. Olive Logan [1839–1909]      61

5. Mildred Aldrich [1853–1928]      75

6. Dorothy Lundt [1855–1908] and Emma V. Sheridan [1864–1936]      88

7. Amy Leslie [1855–1939]      103

8. Lucy Monroe [1865–1950]      120

20th-Century Critics

9. Ada Patterson [1867–1939]      131

10. Annie Nathan Meyer [1867–1951]      144

11. Dorothy Rothschild Parker [1898–1967]      157

Chapter Notes      177

Bibliography      181

Index      185

“recommended”—Choice.