SOURCE: Bessai, Diane. “Women Dramatists: Sharon Pollock and Judith Thompson.” In Post-Colonial English Drama: Commonwealth Drama since 1960, pp. 97-117. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.

In the following excerpt, Bessai expounds upon the feminist aspects of Pollock's Blood Relations, Whiskey Six Cadenza, and Doc.

Prologue

In Canada the fortunes of women playwrights, like those of their male counterparts, are reflected in the struggle for an indigenous Canadian drama on the Canadian stage. Only in the past fifteen years or so can it be truly said that Canadian plays have found an equitable place on that stage. However, in each phrase of that struggle, women playwrights have made a strong contribution toward the acceptance of Canadian dramatic writing. In the era of little theatre, Gwen Pharis Ringwood began her long career as a playwright for community and university groups with plays ranging from her popular prairie tragedy of 1939, Still Stands...