Output details

A good night out for the girls : popular feminisms in contemporary theatre and performance

This monograph expands the types of practice studied in theatre and performance studies by looking beyond the confines of the alternative, political theatre paradigm that was formerly pivotal to feminist-theatre practice and theorising. Here, our feminist gaze takes in female-authored and women-centred performances that circulate mainly (albeit not exclusively) in the popular mainstream and the commercial fringe; my own case study chapters include Calendar Girls, Mamma Mia! and Grumpy Old Women. The study conceptualises popular feminisms through a body of interdisciplinary literature (significantly from feminist publications in the field of cultural & media studies) and draws on a wide range of theoretical & philosophical studies that engage with femininity, embodiment and affect. Methodologically this facilitates an approach that serves to contest the ‘posting’ of feminism, overall making a rigorous case for popular feminisms realised as a ‘flow of communication’ (Le Masurier) within the theatrical, affectively charged space of a good night out for the girls show.

This project was conceived of and produced as a joint enterprise and authorship is 50/50. However, as explained in the introduction partly because one of its key concerns is with notions of ‘affect’ once the overall aims and methodology were agreed most chapters were researched and written separately. As indicated by the name in italics at the head of each chapter, Aston is responsible for chapters 2, 4 and 6, chapter 8 was written in two halves (Aston on Khorsandi, Harris on Osho). The opening to this chapter and the entirety of the introduction and conclusion represent an equal collaboration.