Elaine Aston is Professor of Theatre at Lancaster University. She has a distinguished record of publication in the field of feminism, theatre, theory and performance. Her first monograph, a biography of the nineteenth-century actress, Sarah Bernhardt, appeared in 1989, and was followed by Feminism and Theatre (1995); Caryl Churchill (1997; 2001; 2010); Feminist Theatre Practice (1999); Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990-2000 (2003); Performance Practice and Process: Contemporary [Women] Practitioners (2007; with Gerry Harris) and A Good Night Out, for the Girls (2012; with Gerry Harris). She is co-author of the highly influential text on theatre semiotics: Theatre as Sign-System (1991; with George Savona). Elaine has edited two collections of plays for the Women's Theatre Group (Her story Volumes 1 & 2, 1991).

Other collections include the Cambridge Companions to Modern British Women Playwrights (2000; with Janelle Reinelt) and to Caryl Churchill (2009; with Elin Diamond); Feminist Futures?: Theatre, Performance, Theory (2006; with Gerry Harris); and Staging International Feminisms (2007; with Sue-Ellen Case). With Mark O'Thomas she published the first full-length study devoted to the work of the Royal Court's International department: Royal Court International (2015). Elaine is a founding member of the Feminist Research Working Group of the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), and has co-convened the group with Professor Sue-Ellen Case (UCLA). She was the Senior Editor of the IFTR journal Theatre Research International ( 2010 to 2012) and went on to be elected Vice President of IFTR for Publications and Internalisation. With Professor Brian Singleton (Trinity College, Dublin) she is the co-series editor for Contemporary Performance InterActions (Palgrave Macmillan).

In 2014 Elaine was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Stockholm University.

Cheryl was born in Australia and studied Drama & French at University of Bristol then worked at the BBC in London for several years before setting up a theatre company producing and developing feminist plays. She gained a PGCE in Drama (Middlesex University) and an MA in Playwriting Studies (University of Birmingham) and went on to create the award-winning publishing company Aurora Metro Books, well-known for its diverse and inclusive range of titles, with translations from over 20 languages,and over a dozen unique world drama collections.
As an editor/publisher, Cheryl's work has won the Pandora prize, the Raymond Williams/Arts Council Publishing prize, a Special Jury Prize for Peace, Best Innovative & Best Seasonal Foodbook from Gourmand World Cookbooks, and was shortlisted for the People's Book Prize and for the IPG National Diversity awards in 2019 and 2020. www.aurorametro.com
As a playwright, she has won the Croydon Warehouse International Playwriting Competition, been shortlisted for the Roger Leach Memorial prize and longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. Several of her plays have been produced to acclaim in London. She has edited or contributed to over 150 books with work also published in The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, Culture Trip, Riviera News and more.
Her documentary film Rock n' Roll Island, won several awards at film festivals and was broadcast on BBC4 in 2020 garnering a Sunday Times Critics Choice and Radio Times Pick of the Week.
Cheryl is perhaps best-known for her successful 5-year campaign with sister charity (aurorametro.org) to erect a full-size bronze statue of Virginia Woolf which was unveiled in November 2022 on Richmond riverside and has proven a popular attraction.
She co-owns the independent bookshop Books on the Rise in Richmond, which offers weekly literary events and hosts Feminist Book Fortnight. booksontherise.com
For more see cherylrobson.net
April de Angelis is an acclaimed writer whose extensive theatre work includes: Infamous (Jermyn Street Theatre); Kerry Jackson (National Theatre); Saving Grace (Riverside Studios); Gin Craze! (Royal & Derngate Theatre); My Brilliant Friend, a two-part dramatization of Elena Ferrantes' epic family saga (Rose Theatre Kingston, National Theatre); The Village (Theatre Royal Stratford East, 2018); Frankenstein (Royal Exchange Manchester, 2018 Gastronauts (Royal Court Upstairs, 2013); Jumpy (RoyalCourt 2011 & Duke of York's Theatre 2012, Melbourne and Sydney 2015); an adaptation of Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep, 2008); Wild East (Royal Court 2006, Young Vic 2019); A Laughing Matter (Out of Joint at National Theatre, 2001); A Warwickshire Testimony (RSC, 1999); The Positive Hour (Out of Joint at Hampstead Theatre, 1997); Playhouse Creatures (Old Vic Theatre, 1993; revived at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2013); The Life And Times Of Fanny Hill (The Old Fire Station Oxford, 1991; revived at the Bristol Old Vic, 2015) Flight (Glyndebourne Opera, 1997) and Crux (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and national tour) 1989, also published by Aurora Metro.

Feminist Theatre - Then and Now

$33.50