ABSTRACT
Sue-Ellen Case (b.1942) is among the pioneers of feminist theatre studies, having come to prominence in the 1980s and remaining active to this day. This chapter introduces two of Case's best-known essays: “Classic Drag: The Male Creation of Female Parts,” in which she argues that the female parts of the classical canon are drag roles that reveal nothing about actual women and that the foundational male-authored texts of the Western dramatic canon should no longer be regarded as central within theatre studies; and “Towards a Butch-Femme Aesthetic,” in which she proposes that butch-femme role-play offers a model for conceptualizing a feminist subject position. Following her field-defining books Feminism and Theatre and Performing Feminisms, Case's contributions expanded beyond theatre studies to encompass lesbian and queer cultural studies more broadly. Her work is distinguished by its sustained materialist feminist stance and lesbian critical perspective and by her signature wit and love of camp style. She has been a bold, courageous, insightful, and engaging voice whose work has shaped, enriched, and enlivened feminist critical conversations for almost forty years.
