Some these plays (Maison
des Reves, Ambition), the perspective is standard oppressor/oppressed class
struggle feminism, employing orthodox “social construction” dogma to invent
rationalizations for behavior. Thus farm owner Belle Gunness falls under the
gender theory claim that women were not property owners until recent times
[Youtube synopsis of Ambition] and
that motives are necessarily retaliatory.
Other writers take an open and exploratory avoid dogma, such
as Angelmakers: Songs for Female Serial
Killers, which was inspired by the superb 2017 Peter Vronsky book on Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women
Become Monsters.
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1971 – Bremer Freiheit, Frau Geesche Gottfried – Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel ("Bremen Freedom: Ms. Geesche Gottfried - A bourgeois tragedy"); Plawright: Rainer Werner Fassbinder; Dec. 1971; premiered at the Schauspielhaus Bremen. (filmed version, 1972).
1999 – Wuornos; opera; Composer: Carla Lucero; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Ca., Jul. 1999; Florida, Oct. 2012.
2002 – Self Defense: Deaths of Some Salesmen; Playwright: Carson Kreitzer; Studio 115, NYC; Mar 25-Jun. 15, 2002; New Georges and Reverie Productions; 7 acts, 95 min.
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1971 – Bremer Freiheit, Frau Geesche Gottfried – Ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel ("Bremen Freedom: Ms. Geesche Gottfried - A bourgeois tragedy"); Plawright: Rainer Werner Fassbinder; Dec. 1971; premiered at the Schauspielhaus Bremen. (filmed version, 1972).
Case: Gesche Gottfried (Germany)
1999 – Wuornos; opera; Composer: Carla Lucero; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Ca., Jul. 1999; Florida, Oct. 2012.
Case: Aileen Wuornos (USA)
2002 – Self Defense: Deaths of Some Salesmen; Playwright: Carson Kreitzer; Studio 115, NYC; Mar 25-Jun. 15, 2002; New Georges and Reverie Productions; 7 acts, 95 min.
Case: Aileen Wuornos (USA)
2004 – La Quintrala; chamber opera; Composer: Lars Graugoard; Sep. 2, 2004, Copenhagen.
2011 – The Stone; musical drama; Composer: Tom Bolger & Jason Paul Ryan; Dir.: Jason Paul Ryan; Oct. 5-8, 2011; Aug. 14-16, 2012; Kilkenny Arts Festival
2012 – Lady Bluebeard; Stephanie Holman; Twin Falls Center For the Arts, Id.; Oct. 25-27, 2012.
2013 – Maison des Reves, Playwright-performer: Talie Melnyk; solo stage performance; Feb. 2013; Dir: Gretchen Cryer; Frigid Festival, Red Room, New York, NY.
Case: Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (Chile)
2011 – The Stone; musical drama; Composer: Tom Bolger & Jason Paul Ryan; Dir.: Jason Paul Ryan; Oct. 5-8, 2011; Aug. 14-16, 2012; Kilkenny Arts Festival
Case: Alice Kyteler (Ireland)
2012 – Lady Bluebeard; Stephanie Holman; Twin Falls Center For the Arts, Id.; Oct. 25-27, 2012.
Case: Lyda Trueblood Southard (USA)
2013 – Maison des Reves, Playwright-performer: Talie Melnyk; solo stage performance; Feb. 2013; Dir: Gretchen Cryer; Frigid Festival, Red Room, New York, NY.
Case: Madame “Alexe” Popova
(Russia)
“Maison des Reves is based
on the true story of Alexe Popova who in 1909 Samara, Russia confessed to
killing over 300 men, all known for abusing their wives and children.
Through 7 characters and a narrator, I tell the story of this female serial
killer who was the champion of women in her community.”
[Byrne Harrison, FRIGID New York Interview - Talie Melnyk of "Maison des Reves" Stagebuzz.com, Feb. 24, 2013]
[Byrne Harrison, FRIGID New York Interview - Talie Melnyk of "Maison des Reves" Stagebuzz.com, Feb. 24, 2013]
2013 – Pipás Pista; Playwright: Pozgai Zsolt; National Theater of Szeged, Hungary; 2013 (revived
annually); Dir: Frigyes Kovács, Csaba Csaba Varga.
Case: Victoria Rieger (Hungary)
2014 – Blood Countess; Playwright: Keleen
Conway Blanchard; Annex Theatre, Seattle, Wa., Oct. 24-Nov. 22, 2014.
2015 – Gift: Der Fall Gesche Gottfried
Ein historisches Drama; Puppet play; Playwright: Claudia Spoerri; Mench, Puppe! Das Bremer Figurentheater; 2015; Sep. 24, 2016; Oct. 7 - Dec. 17, 2020.
2015 – The Execution of Mrs. Cotton;
Playwright: Sara Fellini; Standard ToyKraft, Brooklyn, Nov. 8, 2015; IRT, New
York, NY, Jul. 17?-31, 2016.
Case: Mary Ann Cotton (England)
2016 – Ambition: The Female American Serial Killer
Musical; Playwright: Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin;
soundtrack CD, 11 songs, rel: Nov. 5, 2016; Workshop: Dixon Place, New York,
NY, Jan. 22, 2016; Fringe, Ars Nova ANT
Fest, NY, Jun. 13, 2016; Fringe Planet
Connections Theater Festival 2016.
“Ambition is an in-development
musical about female American serial killers Nannie Doss, Jane Toppan &
Belle Gunness, who claimed that their societal value (their inability to own
property, miscarriages caused by vindictive strangers, or their non-resemblance
to the heroines in romance novels) somehow led them to a path of violence. This
song cycle focuses on how structures of oppression aimed at stabilizing the
status quo can erupt into disorder born out of repression—and don’t forget,
there’s singing!” [Kaela Garvin, YouTube, Jan. 21, 2016]
2016 – The Execution of Mrs. Cotton; By Sara Fellini; Dir.
Samuel Adams; Produced by spit&vigor; Jul. 14-31, 2016; IRT Theater, New
York, N. Y.
Case: Mary Ann Cotton (England)
2016 – Skin Deep, Playwright: Attila Theatre; Pentahotel, Reading, England, Reading Fringe Festival, Jul. 22, 2016.
Case: Elizabeth Bathory (Hungary)
2016 – Self Defense, or Death of Some Salesmen; Carson Kreitzer; Studio 115; Oct. 21-30, 2016.
Case: Aileen Wuornos (USA)
2017 – Angelmakers: Songs for Female Serial Killers; Songs by Molly Rice; cabaret genre, Real/Time Interventions, Aftershock Theater, Lawrenceville/Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 25-Nov. 11, 2017; singer/actor Milia Ayache; Dir: Rusty Thelin; Inspired by Female Serial Killers book, by Peter Vronsky.
Cases: Velma Barfield (“How the Devil Sings”), Countess Elizabeth Báthory, Mary Bell, Zsuzsanna Fazekas; Gwen Grahamand Cathy Wood, Jane Toppan, Aileen Wuornos
2018 – Leonarda Cianciulli, La Prima Serial Killer Italiani; Mar. 18, 2018; Staglione Teatrale.
Case: Leonarda Cianciulli (Italy)
2019 – Aceto; Playwright: Coco Galotta; musical play; Palermo; Jul. 10, 2019.
Case: Giovanna Bonanno (Sicily)
2019 – Bloody Bathory; Millie Rose; Barrens Theatre Co., Chicago; Epworth United Methodist Church, Oct. 25-27, 2019.
Case: Elizabeth Bathory (Hungary/Slovakia)
2019 – Bath/Ory;Victoria Dudley; Ambrose Fringe Festival, Jun. 6-16, 2019.
Case: Elizabeth Bathory (Hungary/Slovakia)
2021 – Luiza de Jesus - A Assassina da Roda; Playwright: Rute de Carvalho Serra - Director: Maria Henrique; Theatro da Tindade Inatel, Lisboa, Portugal; April 29 - May 30, 2021
Case: Luiza de Jesus (Portugal)
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[2959-9/9/21]
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I wish we had known about your interest in this subject matter earlier, we just presented Molly Rice's ANGELMAKERS in NYC last week! We will be back in the Big Apple, please stay tuned!
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