What do Hamlet, The Death of a Salesman and Bram Stoker's Dracula have in common? They are all plays (yes, Bram Stoker's Dracula is also a stage play) with a male character in the title and as the lead. William Shakespeare is actually quite notorious for including more male than female characters in his plays and there were probably contextual reasons for this - women were not allowed on stage in the Bard's time period. Still, even today it seems that although the majority of theatre-goers are women, only a minority of roles go to female actors in English-language theatre, at least in the UK and the US.
In amateur theatre it's not uncommon for most of the available actors to be women. I have also been part of many fun, witty and moving productions. I, like most of my female co-actors, have played a daughter, a girlfriend, a wife, the third girl from right as well as some gender-neutral and originally-male characters. And there's nothing wrong with any of these individually - they were fun to play and I learned a lot - but at the same time it has become obvious just how scarce strong female characters are.
In amateur theatre it's not uncommon for most of the available actors to be women. I have also been part of many fun, witty and moving productions. I, like most of my female co-actors, have played a daughter, a girlfriend, a wife, the third girl from right as well as some gender-neutral and originally-male characters. And there's nothing wrong with any of these individually - they were fun to play and I learned a lot - but at the same time it has become obvious just how scarce strong female characters are.
Perhaps it's time to explain what I mean by "strong" here. Firstly, I mean a character who exists and is important in their own right rather than being primarily defined in relation to another character. Gertrud is usually characterised as Hamlet's mother, whereas Hamlet is just Hamlet, that is, he's not primarily being defined as Gertrud's son. In a way, this is a question of foregrounding - similarly to real life, most characters have relations to others, but this is a question of what is presented as the most important attribute of the character and whether that is inherent to the character themselves or to another character. Secondly, I mean a character who has several traits and layers to their personality rather than just one. In real life people are not simple, and thus complexity of traits makes the characters seem more real and identifiable. Furthermore, the character has goals that drive their behaviour, and they may change and develop throughout the play. Being aware of the goals makes it easier for the audience to empathise, understand and accept the character's behaviour.
Although rare, strong female characters do exist. Some well-known examples are the title character of Medea, Eliza from Pygmalion, and both Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked. They are all autonomous characters with particular traits - jealousy, ambition, naïveté... They have goals as versatile as seeking revenge, moving up in society, finding acceptance, and being popular. And they all develop and change either for the better or for the worse. Strong female characters will also be brought to stage in our upcoming production "Nine" and "Commencing" by Jane Shepard. The four women in these plays can be both bigoted and understanding, both tender and hurtful, and much more.
Of course having strong female characters does not mean excluding strong male characters - they can very well live and flourish in the same play. Pygmalion is also an example of that as Eliza meets Professor Higgins, who aims to win a bet. In fact, before choosing to do "Nine" and "Commencing", we also read through quite a few great plays with both strong female and male characters. Hopefully we can stage one of them at some point.
Furthermore having strong female characters doesn't mean the plays would touch on female-specific topics only, or that the plays would necessarily be of no interest to members of any other sex. Although Medea is about being a wife and a mother, it is also a story about being a stranger in a strange land. Pygmalion shows how one can seek change without understanding all it entails, and Wicked is all about things and people not being what they seem. "Nine" and "Commencing" are about games, prejudice, alcoholism and above all survival.
Bringing strong female characters to the stage is important because cultural experiences impact the way we understand the world and our place in it. If strong male characters rule the stage whereas strong female characters are almost non-existent, what does that tell us about the order of the world?
- Erna -
Although rare, strong female characters do exist. Some well-known examples are the title character of Medea, Eliza from Pygmalion, and both Elphaba and Glinda from Wicked. They are all autonomous characters with particular traits - jealousy, ambition, naïveté... They have goals as versatile as seeking revenge, moving up in society, finding acceptance, and being popular. And they all develop and change either for the better or for the worse. Strong female characters will also be brought to stage in our upcoming production "Nine" and "Commencing" by Jane Shepard. The four women in these plays can be both bigoted and understanding, both tender and hurtful, and much more.
Of course having strong female characters does not mean excluding strong male characters - they can very well live and flourish in the same play. Pygmalion is also an example of that as Eliza meets Professor Higgins, who aims to win a bet. In fact, before choosing to do "Nine" and "Commencing", we also read through quite a few great plays with both strong female and male characters. Hopefully we can stage one of them at some point.
Furthermore having strong female characters doesn't mean the plays would touch on female-specific topics only, or that the plays would necessarily be of no interest to members of any other sex. Although Medea is about being a wife and a mother, it is also a story about being a stranger in a strange land. Pygmalion shows how one can seek change without understanding all it entails, and Wicked is all about things and people not being what they seem. "Nine" and "Commencing" are about games, prejudice, alcoholism and above all survival.
Bringing strong female characters to the stage is important because cultural experiences impact the way we understand the world and our place in it. If strong male characters rule the stage whereas strong female characters are almost non-existent, what does that tell us about the order of the world?
- Erna -