UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour by Aphra Behn was published by Skyhorse. 

In alternating chapters and eras, Aphra Behn's memoir divulges her secret lives. In the ’70s her public identity was that of a struggling actress and girlfriend of a famous Hollywood star, while privately she was a victim of domestic violence, chillingly addicted to her life-threatening relationship. Two decades later she began a nineteen-year career as an activist with the clandestine arts gender-justice warriors The Guerrilla Girls, granting the reader a security pass into a mysterious and renowned revolutionary arts secret society. A compelling and page-turning read, and a testament that fighters for fairness and justice are not born: they are made.   - Kia Corthron, playwright

“Fierce, funny and shrewd, much like the Guerrilla Girls themselves, Aphra Behn has written a memoir filled with so much hope and frustration it’s impossible to put down.  A page-turning how-to about changing the world, and the challenges therein.” - Theresa Rebeck, playwright (Seminar), television writer (Smash) and novelist (I’m Glad About You). 

“Aphra Behn's book is more than a wildly entertaining snapshot of 80s art culture. More than an answer to the question of, “Who were those crazy feminist activists behind the gorilla masks?” It is a generous, fearless, often hilarious coming of age tale that takes Behn from being a victim of domestic abuse in Hollywood to becoming an artist and part of one of the most unforgettable art protest groups of our time.” - Elissa Schappell, author of “Use Me” and “Blueprints for Building Better Girls”

“I loved this book by a woman with dreams that don't get realized but she makes her life work, no matter what, and tells her story with such honesty and clarity. An incredible achievement. It is unique, original and Aphra Behn is what Arthur Penn would say, somethin’ else.” —Estelle Parsons, Oscar winning actress

Catherine Frid's 10 minute play This Isn't Toronto is part of Long Story Short, an anthology published by the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

In This Isn't Toronto, a mother and daughter navigate a life-changing crossroad in their relationship.

Lynne S. Brandon’s short play, “Isosceles,” has been published in Off The Rocks Vol.20, NewTown Writers Press, Allison Fradkin editor, Chicago; and is available from Lulu Press (lulu.com).

 “Isosceles” queers "the Erotic Triangle," the sexual dynamics of two men contesting for a woman’s favors.  In 1910, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas lived in Paris.  In “Isosceles,” butch dyke Gert and femme Alice spend an evening with noted womanizer Pablo (Picasso).  The artists’ Cubist works (Tender Buttons, Picasso’s “Absinthe”) inform the trio’s word play.  Alice uses all the power available to her and, by the end, she is the focus of the “masculine” attention.  In an isosceles triangle, there is always one short side, opposite one dominant angle.

 Performed at Smith College (2008) and SLAMBoston! at the renowned Factory Theatre in Boston (2010), it also had a staged-reading in “She Speaks,” part of the “365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project,” in Kitchener, Ontario, 2015.

AIR APPARENT by Sandra Dempsey 
has been published in Long Story Short: An Anthology of (Mostly) Ten-Minute Plays- a collection of twenty-five very short but powerful plays that pack a punch through a variety of genres and styles, issues and experiences, as well as characters and performance roles.

AIR APPARENT: One of the forgotten, Aisling is losing her grasp on the periphery of society as she struggles with the after-effects of "that day." Her health is destroyed by the gray dust, she can't even keep up with her meagre dog-walking, and she is left as one of the thousands with terrible, insidious internal injury, struggling for every breath. 

Ideal for a range of readers from drama students to aspiring theatre practitioners, and for those working in community and professional theatres, Long Story Short gathers from acclaimed and emerging playwrights a breadth of plays that are united in their ability to create complete and moving stories that transcend the page in about ten minutes each. ISBN 9781770915633  

http://www.playwrightscanada.com/index.php/long-story-short-an-anthology-of-mostly-ten-minute-plays-print.html
 

sd@SandraDempsey.com

www.SandraDempsey.com

Meet our Authors: Farzana Moon – December 2016

14 December 2016

Farzana Moon is a teacher, poet, historian and playwright with a Masters in Education. She has published work on Sufi poetry, historical and biographical accounts of the Moghul emperors, and has written plays based on stories from religion and folklore.

She has a new book about the Quran forthcoming, and is currently writing another book, The American Queen (a work on Ora Ray Baker, the wife of Hazrat Inayat Khan, who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico).

Farzana describes the experience of publishing multiple titles with Cambridge Scholars Publishing:

“Academic publishing is a niche within the wider publishing market, and I was given the opportunity to publish my first scholarly work, Holocaust of the East, by Cambridge Scholars. CaroI Koulikourdi was the friendliest of editors, and it was a rare delight to work with someone so affable and helpful. I was moved by her kindness and expertise, and decided to publish two more titles with Cambridge Scholars: No Islam but Islam and The Moghul Saint of Insanity. Despite the diversity of subjects, the editors’ knowledge extended widely across the various disciplines. I applaud their patience and dedication as they stayed loyal to the high standard of their scholarly vision admired by university presses in America. All of my titles are much sought-after by scholars and universities, and I am very grateful to have published with Cambridge Scholars.”

As part of the Meet our Authors campaign, we are offering our readers a 50% discount on The Moghul Saint of Insanity. To redeem your discount, please enter the promotional code MOADEC16 during checkout. Please note that this is a time-limited offer that will expire on 16^th January 2017.

You can find out more about Farzana and her work at her website by clicking here, or watch a video of her poem Politico 2016 being recited by actor Kaleb Alexander below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj1dHlegPWM

  Children (play) 2016

Afghanistan 2012. Two daughters and their father suffer from a prevailing tradition (Bacheh pooshi). A family without a son makes its little daughter wear and behave like a boy. As this girl is growing up with all the freedoms and authorities of a boy in that society, she believes actually she is a boy and proud of herself. Her father is also happy to have a son. When this boy gets thirteen years old his father tells him: “you are old enough and must marry a man.” The boy is confused, the father tells him the truth. The boy gets distressed and mad. He blames his father for cheating him, the father replies it is a tradition and also you ignored the signs and indicators showing you were not a boy.

The play goes on.

      Mahin.mohasseb@gmail.com

        The author’s language is Persian.

I'm honored to write for The Solo Performer on staying authentic to your own path when devising, performing and producing your own solo performance:

http://www.thesoloperformer.com/2016/11/amy-oestreicher-on-staying-authentic-to.html?m=1

The Solo Performer: Celebration and Exploration of the Art of Solo Theatre Performance.

The Empty Seats (play)

In a city in the Middle East two prostitutes are on trial.  While prosecutor tries to prove that they are guilty, they defend themselves. One of the prostitutes has been taken out from her city when she has been a child and her city has been destroyed by an earthquake. The other one has been a poor child working for a family and has been raped over and over. They tell about their lives and persuade the court that they had no choice but to be prostitute and if prostitution is a crime why the seats of the men who have participated are empty in the court?

By the way the language of the author (Mahin) is Persian.

mahin.mohasseb@gmail.com

Read article: https://tlablog.org/2016/02/25/dramatherapy-as-a-lifeline-in-transforming-trauma-by-amy-oestreicher/

"

We are instinctively creative beings.  Through the transformative power of dramatherapy, we gain adaptability and create a positive, empowered attitude toward obstacles, physical or mental struggles, hardships, and trauma.  Our vision is a world where “detours” in life are everyday blessings.

As we enter the new millennium, the world is faced with massive challenges as well as opportunities to solve them.  Communication is a very powerful tool. Words have the power to engage, to move ideas from the fuzzy margins to the focused center of our attention, and to inspire us to think in new ways. Theatre, arts, expressive communication, language, and learning can move us to the center of life’s stage.  Gutless & Grateful empowered me to move forward and spark a sense of rejuvenation, renewal, and hope from within."