"For centuries, women playwrights around the world have challenged audiences, readers, and critics to embrace visions and voices quite different from those of their better-known male counterparts.".

"The Female Dramatist is one of the first major works to collectively place in the spotlight these women from across continents and time. More than 200 entries offer concise biographical sketches that detail each writer's personal and professional history and provide selected synopses and literary insights into her work. Together they paint a portrait of women who have worked through the theater not only for creative freedom and equality but for social and political change.

Each profile also includes a list of the writer's works and a list of works about the writer; a supplemental index covers an additional 150 female playwrights, making The Female Dramatist a truly comprehensive book on this subject."--BOOK JACKET.