Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Plays by Women: The Early Twenty-First Century ed. by Penny Farfan and Lesley Ferris (review)

Persistent lack of representation for women playwrights across global stages remains a central concern to feminist theatre scholars. Thankfully, the essays in this collection, representing a plurality of feminism in the plays featured and a variety of critical approaches, help address the ongoing disparities. Building on Penny Farfan and Lesley Ferris’s earlier collaboration, Contemporary Women Playwrights (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), this volume impressively expands that work, deepening feminist engagement across intersections of race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, ability, and age. Indeed, several essays do not foreground gender but contribute more widely to larger narratives and global perspectives, offering a dynamic snapshot of the scope and diversity within the field of women playwrights.