Kathleen Starck: “I Believe in the Power of Theatre”. British Women’s Drama of the 1980s and 1990s

• Klaus Peter Müller

Starck’s book deals with an intriguing subject and a wide range of playwrights. It is certainly a good idea to discuss the plays in connection with specific topics in individual chapters on “Growing Up”, “The Quest for an Identity”, “Love Stories”, “Homosexual Ways of Life”, “Families”, “Working Women”, and “Violence”. Violence is so central that it is treated in 4 subchapters on “Violence against Women”, “Child Sexual Abuse”, “Institutionalised Violence – Women and Madness”, and “Revenge”. The last chapter before the “Conclusion” is given over to “Women’s Struggling and Bonding”. Before these topical chapters, unified as “Analyses”, begin, there are sections on the “Theoretical Background”, “The Development of Women’s Theatre in Great Britain”, and “British Women’s Theatre in the 1980s and 1990s” respectively.

Seiten 199 - 201