ERIC Number: ED284320
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985
Pages: 17
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
"The Women's Room": An Experimental Mixed Media Production.
Kizer, Elizabeth; Burns, Gary
The novel "The Women's Room," by Marilyn French, deserves an audience both because of the timely feminist issues it addresses and because of its formal experimentation with points of view. An interpretive theatre version of the story was performed twice in 1982-83, using a script adapted from the novel, and a modified chamber theatre format (based on oral interpretation/interpreters theatre). Three actors played Mira, the main character, in terms of her emotional side, her intellectual side, and her past self. Another actor read the parts of men in Mira's life, and a fifth portrayed the women in her life. The script stressed narration over dialogue, and contained the parts of the novel that focused on two themes; how popular culture shapes the women's character, and that society values women primarily to the extent that they are legitimized by males. Because interpretive theatre demands imagination from the audience, the sets were simple. Two rear projection screens showed slides at various points to establish cultural contexts for the narration and dialogue, and to show how popular culture affect sex roles. Repetition was used to strengthen the slide images. Other themes that tied the production together were the color red, and roses. This presentation of live performance linked with mass media demonstrated aesthetically the interconnectedness of personal, political, and cultural elements. (Two pages of notes are appended.) (SKC)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A