Feminism and Comedy

The Crimson recently spoke with Amy Cabranes, an accomplished comedic director whose Harvard credits include Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy, Clare Booth Luce's The Women, A.R. Gurney, Jr.'s Scenes from American Life and Aristophanes' Lysistrata. Cabranes shared some of her views on Lysistrata, theater, comedy and women in positions of authority.

On Lysistrata:

"Lysistrata is a typical, patriarchal wife and mother...The whole irony [of the play] is that the women are just doing this [withholding sex] to bring the men home. This production tries to underscore that...Ultimately, it's a triumph for the men."

"I am moving the focus of the play to gender. No weapons literally appear on stage...I am interpreting Lysistrata as a romantic comedy, like 30s and 40s screw ball sex comedies, with banter, husbands and wives"

"Originally, I was going to do it in World War I. I was making more of a statement about war, but it became a polemic, too historically based. This is broader, sweeping, [it touches on] Western tradition as a whole. It's the movies. It's Hollywood. It's about the dream-making machine of movies and plays and the gender dynamic."

On comedy:

"You can do anything in a comedy as long as its funny. People will come see a comedy no matter what. [With] a black box, artsy feminist performance piece, the only people who will come are feminists. Feminist performance art gives pleasure to feminists...[But] to make people think, who ordinarily wouldn't think, you must go through popular channels."

"A prologue is a wonderful way to frame your play, to say whatever you want to say. Make a statement without detracting from the humor of the text. Your number one responsibility to the audience is to entertain.

On women:

"I've always had female producers. It's no coincidence. I don't think men like to work under women. Most men can't handle it. They feel, 'I should be the boss.' The trend on campus is male directors, female producers. Harvard men don't want to admit it, but they do have problems with women in authoritative positions. Comedy is a very male-dominated realm. I am the only woman who has only done comedy. [As a director] I have my hands in everything...People are taken aback. If I were a man, they wouldn't be. It's a general cultural stereotype. A woman in an authoritative position is seen as a bitch...Of course, all of these are huge, sweeping statements and don't apply to everyone."

"One surefast way to change society is to have women in positions of power in all areas. It's overrated how successful women have been. The last bastions of male power are Hollywood, Broadway, Washington and Harvard."

Interview conducted by Amanda B. Schaffer.