Carolyn Gage (born 1952) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, actor, theatrical director and author. She has written nine books on lesbian theater and sixty-five plays, musicals, and one-woman shows. A

lesbian feminist Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logica ...

, her work emphasizes non-traditional roles for women and lesbian characters.

Early life

Gage earned a master's degree in theater arts from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Career

Gage's best known work is ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc'', a one-woman play about the historical figure

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

. It has been translated into Portuguese, French, Italian, Bulgarian, and Mandarin and achieved first-class production in Brazil, starring

Christiane Torloni Christiane Maria dos Santos Torloni (born 18 February 1957) is a Brazilian actress. Biography and career Her first appearance was on the Brazilian TV network Rede Globo. Among the many characters she has played are Jô Penteado in ''A Gata Co ...

. The script was published in ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Selected Plays'', an anthology of Gage's historical plays. The anthology was named the national winner of the 2008

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in Drama. Other notable work includes ''Ugly Ducklings'', which was nominated by the

American Theatre Critics Association The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) is the only nationwide professional association of theatre critics in the United States. The ATCA membership consists of theatre critics who write reviews and critiques of live theatre for print, broad ...

for the prestigious ATCA/ Steinberg New Play Award, an award with given annually for the best new play produced outside New York. It won a 2004 Lesbian Theatre Award from ''

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...

'' magazine, and a $150,000 documentary on the play premiered in 2005 at the Frameline International Film Festival in San Francisco. In 2004, ''The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women'' was named national finalist for the Jane Chambers Award given by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. ''Harriet Tubman Visits a Therapist'' was presented at Actors Theatre of Louisville in the

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

Festival of African American plays. It was a national winner of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival, and is included in Random House's anthology ''Under 30: Plays for a New Generation''. In addition to creative works, Gage has published a manual on lesbian theater production, ''Take Stage! How to Direct and Produce a Lesbian Play'', which was published by

Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...

. Gage also wrote ''Monologues and Scenes for Lesbian Actors''. The author of numerous feminist essays, Gage was named contributing editor to the national feminist quarterly ''On The Issues'' and has published in the journals ''Trivia'', ''

Sinister Wisdom ''Sinister Wisdom'' is an American lesbian literary, theory, and art journal published quarterly in Berkeley, California. Started in 1976 by Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Ellenberger (Desmoines) in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is the longest ...

'', ''Lesbian Ethics'', and ''

off our backs ''Off Our Backs'' (stylized in all lowercase; ''oob'') was an American radical feminist periodical that ran from 1970 to 2008. It began publishing on February 27, 1970, with a twelve-page tabloid first issue. From 2002 the editors adapted it ...

'', as well as ''The Lesbian Review of Books'', ''The Gay and Lesbian Review'', and ''Lambda Book Report''. Other publications include '' The Michigan Quarterly Review'' and ''Dramatists Guild Quarterly''. Gage served as a guest lecturer at

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

from 1998 to 1999.Gage, Carolyn
Bio and Vitae
The

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

archive acquired her personal papers in 2004. In December 2014, Gage was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award given by Venus Theatre, founded by Deborah Randall in

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. During the ceremony also celebrating the theatre's 50th production, she revived the memories of actresses, playwrights and directors

Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway star by age 21, Le Gallienne gave up her Broadway appearances to devote herself to founding t ...

Henrietta Vinton Davis Henrietta Vinton Davis (August 25, 1860 – November 23, 1941) was an African-American elocutionist, dramatist, and impersonator. In addition to being "the premier actor of all nineteenth-century black performers on the dramatic stage", Davis ...

and

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

who faced tremendous opposition to their work from the cultural establishment of their time. The American activist and playwright

John Stoltenberg John Stoltenberg (born 1944) is an American author, activist, magazine editor, college lecturer, playwright, and theater reviewer who identifies his political perspective as radical feminist. For several years he has worked for ''DC Metro Theat ...

, lifelong companion of radical feminist

Andrea Dworkin Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen solo ...

, said about Gage's acceptance speech:In 2018, Gage was interviewed for an investigation about how

invisible disabilities Invisible disabilities, also known as hidden disabilities or non-visible disabilities (NVD), are disabilities that are not immediately apparent, are typically chronic illnesses and conditions that significantly impair normal activities of dail ...

tend to be hidden by creative professionals in the American

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...

in order not to experience

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

, having herself concealed for years her

myalgic encephalomyelitis Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

, or chronic fatigue syndrome, she had had since 1988.

Works

Books

* ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Selected Plays'' (2008) * ''Nine Short Plays'' (2008) * ''Starting from Zero: One-Act Plays About Lesbians in Love'' * ''The Spindle and Other Lesbian Fairy Tales'' (2010) * ''Take Stage! How to Direct and Produce a Lesbian Play'' * ''Sermons for a Lesbian Tent Revival'' (2012) * ''Supplemental Sermons for a Lesbian Tent Revival'' (2012) * ''Hotter Than Hell: More Sermons for a Lesbian Tent Revival'' (2012) * ''Monologues and Scenes for Lesbian Actors: Revised and Expanded'' (2009) * ''Like There's No Tomorrow: Meditations for Women Leaving Patriarchy'' (1997) * ''Black Eye and Other Short Plays'' (2014) * ''Three Comedies'' * ''The Triple Goddess: Three Plays'' * ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Other Plays'' (1994) * ''The Gaia Papers: In Search of a Science of Gaia''

Plays

* ''Second Coming of Joan of Arc'', a one-woman show in which

speaks to contemporary audiences * ''Ugly Ducklings'', about blossoming lesbian love and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

at a girls' summer camp * ''The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women'', an audience participation courtroom drama presenting the trial of five women who betrayed the

Anastasia Romanov Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning " resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the mo ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

* ''Thanatron'', a

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

comedy * ''The Amazon All-Stars'' is a musical, the first lesbian full-book musical published by a mainstream publisher * ''The A-Mazing Yamashita and the Gold-diggers of 2008 (one-act play) * ''The Amazon All-stars'' (musical) * ''Amy Lowell: in Her Own Words'' (one-woman show) * ''The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women'' (full-length play) * ''Artemisia and Hildegarde'' (one-act play) * ''Babe: An Olympian Musical'' (musical) * ''Battered on Broadway'' (one-act play) * ''Bite My Thumb'' (one-act play) * ''Blackeye'' (10-minute play) * ''The Boundary Trial of John Proctor'' (one-act play) * ''Calamity Jane Sends a Message to Her Daughter'' (one-act play) * ''Coming About'' (full-length play) * ''Cookin' with Typhoid Mary'' (one-act play) * ''The Countess and the Lesbians (one-act play) * ''The Clarity of Pizza'' (5-Minute Play) * ''The Drum Lesson'' (one-act play) * ''Entr'acte'' (one-act play) * ''Esther and Vashti'' (full-length play) * ''The Evil That Men Do: The Story of Thalidomide'' (one-act play) * ''Extravagant Love: the Life of Violette LeDuc'' (one-woman show) * ''The Goddess Tour'' (full-length play) * ''Harriet Tubman Visits a Therapist'' (one-act play) * ''Heterosexuals Anonymous'' (one-act play) * ''Jane Addams and the Devil Baby'' (one-act play) * ''A Labor Play'' (one-act play) * ''The Ladies' Room (5-minute play) * ''The Last Reading of Charlotte Cushman'' (one-woman show) * ''Leading Ladies'' (Musical) * ''Louisa May Incest'' (one-act play) * ''Mason-dixon'' (one-act play) * ''The Obligatory Scene'' (one-act play) * ''The Parmachene Belle'' (one-act play) * ''Patricide'' (one-act play) * ''The P.E. Teacher'' (one-act play) * ''The Pele Chant'' (one-act play) * ''The Poorly-Written Play Festival'' (one-act play) * ''Radicals'' (one-act play) * ''The Rules of the Playground'' (one-act play) * ''Sappho in Love'' (full-length play) * ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc'' (one-woman show) * ''Souvenirs of Eden'' (one-act play) * ''The Spindle'' (full-length play) * ''Stigmata'' (full-length play) * ''Thanatron'' (full-length play) * ''Ugly Ducklings'' (full-length play) * ''Valerie Solanas at Matteawan'' (one-act play) * ''Women on the Land'' (musical)

Awards

* 2014 Featured Playwright, 53rd World Theater Day sponsored by UNESCO, Rome, Italy. * 2014 Hewnoaks Residency, Maine. * 2009 Residency, Wurlitzer Foundation,

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

* 2009 National Winner, Lambda Literary Award in Drama, ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Selected Plays'' * Janine C. Rae Cultural Award for the Advancement of Women's Culture (2002) * National Finalist, Lambda Literary Award in Drama, for ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Other Plays'' * Winner, Maine Playwrights Award, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, for ''The Poorly-Written Play Festival'' (2007) * Nominee, Michael MacLiammor Award (Best Female Performer), Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival (2007) * Nominee,

's annual ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, for ''Ugly Ducklings'' * Winner, ''Curve Magazine's'' National Lesbian Theatre Award, for ''Ugly Ducklings'' * National Finalist, Association for Theatre in Higher Education Jane Chambers Award, for ''The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women'' * National winner, Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival, for ''Harriet Tubman Visits a Therapist'' * Lynda Hart Memorial Grant, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (2005) * ''Thanatron'' named among "Best Productions of 2003" by the ''Portland Phoenix'' in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

* Finalist, Maine Playwrights Award for ''Parmachene Belle'' (2003) * National winner, $3000 Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Grant for best play, ''The Last Reading of Charlotte Cushman'' * Acquisition of personal papers for

Special Collections Archive * Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama from the Oregon Institute of Literary Arts for ''The Second Coming of Joan of Arc'' * Walden Writer's Fellowship from

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

* Oregon Literary Fellowship writer's grant from Oregon Institute of Literary Arts *

Oregon Arts Commission The Oregon Arts Commission is a governor-appointed body of nine commissioners who allocate grants for artists based in the U.S. state of Oregon. It receives the bulk of its funding through the National Endowment for the Arts, the state, and the Or ...

Individual Artist Grant * National Winner, Nancy Dean Distinguished Playwriting Award * Eleanor Humes Haney Fund Grant * New York Open Meadows Foundation Grant * Maine Arts Commission, Good Idea Grant * Winner Best Stageplay,

Moondance International Film Festival The Moondance International Film Festival is an independent annual film festival and awards competition in the USA that takes place in the fall. The first Moondance Film Festival was held in 2000. The festival has usually been held in Boulder, Co ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

, for ''Sappho in Love'' * National semi-finalist for the Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition,

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, for ''The Pele Chant'' * National finalist, George P. Kernodle One-Act Play Competition,

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, ''Poorly-Written Play Festival'' * National finalist, John Gassner New Play Festival, Stony Brook University (NY) for ''The Spindle'' * National semi-finalist, Association for Theatre in Higher Education One-Act Play Competition for ''The Pele Chant''

References

External links

Official website

A site for the Ugly Ducklings Campaign, based on a play by Carolyn Gage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Carolyn 1952 births American feminist writers American stage actresses American theatre directors Women theatre directors American women dramatists and playwrights Feminist theatre Lambda Literary Award for Drama winners American lesbian actresses Lesbian feminists American lesbian writers Living people LGBT dramatists and playwrights Writers from Oregon People with chronic fatigue syndrome 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women