ABSTRACT
Many difficulties beset the woman who would write or perform in North Africa. Women are open to criticisms that men do not receive, both about their work and their character. Woman artists have developed strategies to move around these obstacles. Perhaps they work with a husband or fiancé, to avoid the stigma of the single female performer and harassment from male colleagues. Some choose to work in areas of the theatre that do not require them to rehearse at night. Many, particularly the Algerians, have left North Africa for Europe, where they can express themselves with more ease and have a less difficult time getting their work published. Others, Tunisians and Moroccans, stay and face the obstacles head-on. Most Algerian artists that I know of are in exile, and some are in hiding. A precious few, remarkably, continue to write and perform in Algeria.
