ABSTRACT
New Dramatist alum Constance Congdon (b.1944) spent her career in the 1980s and 1990s experimenting with non-naturalistic stage conventions and narrative structures that broke with Aristotelian dramatic theory. In her remarks on a panel discussion, “How to Talk to a Playwright” (1990), she rejects the American theatrical establishment's formal predilections for the “well-made play” driven by predictable plot and character development. She similarly objects to confining political expectations placed on female writers to perform according to scripted versions of identity politics and feminism. In keeping with theories proposed by Jill Dolan, Sue-Ellen Case, and Elin Diamond, Congdon's plays explore complex identities that refuse to abide by conventional definitions of gender and sexuality. Her later work continued to explore such complex, unorthodox identities in middle- and working-class social milieus, including adaptations of plays by Molière, Goldoni, and Gorky.
