Maria DiCenzo
In Fair Play: Twelve Women Speak Judith Rudakoff and Rita Much have compiled a series of interviews that are both engaging and informative. The collection is useful as a reference tool since each interview is preceded by a brief profile which includes a biographical note, photograph, excerpts from plays, and up-to-date lists of produced and/or published plays. The interviews themselves reveal an interesting array of issues and insights, and the informed questions are often as important as the playwrights' responses. But how far the book goes in filling the gap in the existing literature on Canadian plays written by women is open to question.
As Rudakoff and Much outline in the introduction, the project grew out of their discovery, as university drama teachers, of 'a distinct and distressing lack of reliable material to which we can guide students in search of background information, theoretical material or analytical commentary in their research on Canadian playwrights.' This lack is even more pronounced in the case of Canada's woman playwrights, and the authors set out to 'help fill this vacuum.' While Fair Play represents an important step in this process, the attempt to appeal to a wide variety of readers (ranging from students and teachers of drama, to those interested in general issues such as feminism, and cultural life in Canada) and to include a wide range of playwrights results in a book that offers an overview rather than detailed analytical commentary.
Central to any discussion of 'collections' are the questions concerning the choices themselves. Rudakoff and Much address this problem directly by defending and explaining their selections in the introduction. They do not include women of colour because 'as the 1980s draw to a close there are as yet none who have made the great leap from talent to nationally produced and/or published playwright.' These criteria are surprising given the editors' awareness of and sensitivity to the difficulties women have faced in getting their plays produced and published. In the case of Québécois women, the authors believe that the body of work is so large and varied that it deserves a volume of its own. While one might query these decisions, it is important to note that the playwrights who are included differ in terms of age, cultural backgrounds, and geographical roots, and their work covers a range of 'styles and thematic concerns.' These differences become clear in the actual dialogues.
The interviews differ slightly in terms of structure and emphasis because Rudakoff and Much manage to tailor the questions to suit the particular careers and interests of the individual playwrights, allowing their personalities to emerge. The questions address specific plays and production, working methods, major influences, work in progress, and writing for other media, as well as more general issues such as regionalism and the problems facing Canadian theatre. In cases where the same questions are asked of the playwrights, the responses vary widely. For instance, many were asked if they might identify themselves as 'Canadian,' 'Female,' or 'Feminist' writers. Banuta Rubess, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Sharon Pollock are the most vocal about their feminist politics and see a need for greater involvement of women in positions as directors and artistic directors. But others retreat to the less controversial havens of 'artist' and 'playwright.'
Because of the variety of backgrounds, the playwrights offer useful views on theatre in Canada from coast to coast. Those who have moved around, like Wendy Lill, identify differing responses from audiences in Eastern versus Western provinces. Joanna McClelland Glass, who spent a large part of her writing career in the United States, and Margaret Hollingsworth, who was born in England and lived in other countries, offer outside perspectives on the importance of subsidy and how Canadian drama is regarded elsewhere. Playwrights like Banuta Rubess, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Mary Walsh, and Carol Bolt, who have been involved to varying degrees in collaborative and collective work, provide insights into those processes.
In spite of these diverse attitudes and experiences, I was struck by certain recurring themes and concerns. For instance, it becomes clear from reading this collection that Nightwood Theatre has played a crucial role in getting women's plays produced. It is also interesting to note how important humour and comedy are to the work of women playwrights. For many, humour is the only way they can make painful issues bearable. As Ann-Marie MacDonald explains: 'it's the whole business of, "If I weren't laughing, I'd be killing myself."' Finally, if there is one thing these women have in common, it is a commitment to and fascination with writing plays. They express mixed feelings about radio and generally agree that writers have little control over their work in film. What emerges is a sense of how difficult, yet how exciting it is to write for the theatre.
The interviews cover a great deal of ground and some include more detailed discussions of specific plays and characters than others. If one is looking for a critical volume on the works of these playwrights, Fair Play will be disappointing. What it does offer is a glimpse at the playwrights and the kinds of factors that inform their work. The authors describe the conversations as 'framed close-ups of a moment in the development of selected artists.' As someone involved in theatre studies, I find interviews with playwrights/theatre workers useful because they usually reveal aspects of the process of creating and producing plays that many critics ignore. For those who are coming to the work of these playwrights for the first time, Fair Play is a good introduction. Finally, the interviews left me with a strong sense of whose work I would want to pursue as a researcher and theatregoer, and in this way the book serves a valuable function.