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Shattering the Myth: Plays by Hispanic Women
The plays, written between 1986 and 1991, have been performed or read in theaters across the United States. They shatter myths and create a broader, freer space for women's cultural development.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
52 people want to read
About the author
Cherríe L. Moraga
16 books365 followersCherríe Lawrence Moraga is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright. She is part of the faculty at Stanford University in the Department of Drama and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. Her works explore the ways in which gender, sexuality and race intersect in the lives of women of color.
Moraga was one of the few writers to write and introduce the theory on Chicana lesbianism. Her interests include the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race, particularly in cultural production by women of color. There are not many women of color writing about issues that queer women of color face today: therefore, her work is very notable and important to the new generations. In the 1980s her works started to be published. Since she is one of the first and few Chicana/Lesbian writers of our time, she set the stage for younger generations of other minority writers and activists.
Moraga has taught courses in dramatic arts and writing at various universities across the United States and is currently an artist in residence at Stanford University. Her play, Watsonville: Some Place Not Here, performed at the Brava Theatre Company of San Francisco in May, 1996, won the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Fund for New American Plays Award, from the Kennedy center for the Performing Arts. Barbara Smith, Audre Lorde and Moraga started Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press in 1983, a group which did not discriminate against homosexuality, class, or race. it is the first publisher dedicated to the writing of women of color in the United States.
Moraga is currently involved in a Theatre communications group and was the recipient of the NEA Theatre Playwriting Fellowship Award Her plays and publications have won and received national recognition including a TCG Theatre Residency Grant, a National Endowment for the art fellowship for play writing and two Fund for New American Plays Awards in 1993. She was awarded the United States artist Rockefeller Fellowship for literature in 2007.In 2008 she won a Creative Work Fund Award. The following year, in 2009 she received a Gerbode-Hewlett foundation grant for play writing.
(from Wikipedia)
Moraga was one of the few writers to write and introduce the theory on Chicana lesbianism. Her interests include the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race, particularly in cultural production by women of color. There are not many women of color writing about issues that queer women of color face today: therefore, her work is very notable and important to the new generations. In the 1980s her works started to be published. Since she is one of the first and few Chicana/Lesbian writers of our time, she set the stage for younger generations of other minority writers and activists.
Moraga has taught courses in dramatic arts and writing at various universities across the United States and is currently an artist in residence at Stanford University. Her play, Watsonville: Some Place Not Here, performed at the Brava Theatre Company of San Francisco in May, 1996, won the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Fund for New American Plays Award, from the Kennedy center for the Performing Arts. Barbara Smith, Audre Lorde and Moraga started Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press in 1983, a group which did not discriminate against homosexuality, class, or race. it is the first publisher dedicated to the writing of women of color in the United States.
Moraga is currently involved in a Theatre communications group and was the recipient of the NEA Theatre Playwriting Fellowship Award Her plays and publications have won and received national recognition including a TCG Theatre Residency Grant, a National Endowment for the art fellowship for play writing and two Fund for New American Plays Awards in 1993. She was awarded the United States artist Rockefeller Fellowship for literature in 2007.In 2008 she won a Creative Work Fund Award. The following year, in 2009 she received a Gerbode-Hewlett foundation grant for play writing.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 18, 2017
sadly I have read only one play out of six from this book. it isn't available for me to read it all. so why i rate it with 4 stars ??
although I only read Miriam's flowers , but I am in love with the idea of reading a whole book by Hispanic women. Giving voice to marginalized Hispanic women is something which is highly respected.
as for Miriam's flowers, I fall in love with certain ideas in the play. Despite the sexual content, the idea of creating beauty after pain , Miriam's pain as a way of purification , having inner pain out, are some of themes only some which I totally understand and love.
about the ending of the play .. oh my god !! how symbolic is that !!?
the death of delfina in the bathtub which symbolize her guilt was incredible. she is sinful , guilty "for the death of puli" from hair to toe. she can't wash up her guilt till she died in !! how powerful is that !!
miriam's attempts to purify her died mother which failed as she can't draw saint's blood like flowers and only draw a tulip .. how effective is that !!
The symbolic mention of moses and the name of the protagonist "miriam" and jesus
all the themes and ideas came to ones mind by reading one play .. so what about the rest of the collection !!
although I only read Miriam's flowers , but I am in love with the idea of reading a whole book by Hispanic women. Giving voice to marginalized Hispanic women is something which is highly respected.
as for Miriam's flowers, I fall in love with certain ideas in the play. Despite the sexual content, the idea of creating beauty after pain , Miriam's pain as a way of purification , having inner pain out, are some of themes only some which I totally understand and love.
about the ending of the play .. oh my god !! how symbolic is that !!?
the death of delfina in the bathtub which symbolize her guilt was incredible. she is sinful , guilty "for the death of puli" from hair to toe. she can't wash up her guilt till she died in !! how powerful is that !!
miriam's attempts to purify her died mother which failed as she can't draw saint's blood like flowers and only draw a tulip .. how effective is that !!
The symbolic mention of moses and the name of the protagonist "miriam" and jesus
all the themes and ideas came to ones mind by reading one play .. so what about the rest of the collection !!
May 27, 2013
A very decent collection of plays by Latina writers. A great add to the collection of any student seeking a bit of insight into the tribulations of being of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino descent and American.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews