Abstract

No other anthologies of Italian women dramatists exist than this. This is a first translation into English of four plays unknown to academic and general public. It includes introductions to each playwright, and critical analysis, historical context and performance history of their plays. It could be used in undergraduate/graduate courses on international women writers in translation, Italian literature, or women's theatre. Books about twentieth-century Italian drama seldom discuss plays by women and when they do very little is written about women dramatists before 1960, even in recent studies of contemporary Italian women's theatre. "Italian Women's Theatre, 1930-1960" redresses this imbalance by providing the first English translation of works by Paola Riccora, Anna Bonacci, Clotilde Masci, and Gici Ganzini Granata. Between 1930 and 1960 these women achieved a high degree of popularity and success, and although their names and works are now largely unknown, even among theatre practitioners and academics, these authors set the stage for the next generation of feminist theatre in the 1970s and for the development of contemporary Italian women's theatre as whole.Following a general introduction the book has four sections, each containing an introduction to the playwright - including biographical information - a translation of one of their major dramatic works, a commentary on the play and the play's performance history, and critical analysis of other works. Translations include: "It Must Have Been Giovannino", "The Fantasy Hour", "The Excluded" and "Men Are Always Right".