Split Britches: Lesbian Practice/Feminist Performance

The Split Britches theater company has defined postmodern lesbian/feminism on stage in the U.S. for the past decade and is arguably the single most important experimental theater company to have emerged during this time.Split Britches: Lesbian Practice/FeministPerformanceis a long- awaited celebration of the theater and writing of Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw, and Deb Margolin, who make up the troupe and who have won two Obies and other distinguished awards for their performance skills, ensemble work, and textual innovation. Their work addresses the central icons of high and popular culture from the perspective of lesbian and feminist gender twists and power inversions--from Weaver and Shaw's lip synching satires (Shaw's send-up of Perry Como, Weaver's Southern dish of Tammy Whynot), and their butch-femme seductions inBelle Reprieve, to Margolin's parodic stagings of a Jewish comedian in the vaudeville spectacle ofBeauty and the Beast, to thequeer challenges of transexuality inLust and Comfort. This volume includes: * Seven of Split Britches' best-loved performance texts, most never before published; * A critical and historical introduction by Sue Ellen Case; * Program notes to accompany each of the plays; * Fifteen black-and-white photographs. The publication ofSplit Britches: Lesbian Practice/Feminist Performanceprovides invaluable access to some of the most important theatrical work of our time.