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73-581: The playwrights' group was one of the first feminist theatre groups in the country. Original members included Helen Duberstein, Helene Dworzan, Patricia Horan, Gwen Gunn, Christina Maile, Sally Ordway, Dolores Deane Walker, and Susan Yankowitz. Megan Terry and Dacia Maraini were among the guest playwrights. Their Advisory Board included Gloria Steinem , Muriel Rukeyser , Eleanor Perry , Florynce Kennedy , along with Margaret Croyden, Alice Denham, Elizabeth Fisher, Ellen Frankfort, Carol Greitzer , Tania , Alix Kates Shulman , and Anita Steckel . The plays of

146-522: A Rockefeller Fellow during the development of Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place . Terry's play Jack Jack , at the Firehouse Theater , was a hit for the experimental or avant-garde theater — running longer than any play since the theater opened in 1963. The play tells the story of a boy named Danny, who pursues the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and

219-462: A "folk war movie" about the "futilities and irrelevancies" of war and the "nightmares, fantasies, regrets, terrors, confusions" of the Vietnam War. Viet Rock conveys "the bombardment of impressions we get from the mass media" along with firsthand testimonials about the war. Following the lives of seven soldiers on the front lines , the predominantly female cast juxtaposed intimate scenes, like

292-483: A Black Feminist Radical , that the responsibility lay with Kennedy to recruit other black feminists to this protest. During the protest multiple women were arrested and Kennedy took on their cases as their attorney. In the 1970s Kennedy traveled the lecture circuit with writer Gloria Steinem . If a man asked the pair if they were lesbians – a stereotype of feminists at the time – Kennedy would quote Ti-Grace Atkinson and answer, "Are you my alternative?" She

365-541: A Lifetime Courageous Activist Award, and the following year was honored by Columbia University with their Owl Award for outstanding graduates. In 1999, the City University of New York awarded her the Century Award. Kennedy used Intersectionality as her approach to activism. Sherie Randolph, in her book Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Radical Black Feminist , quotes Flo saying: "My main message

438-576: A Rainbow alongside Morgan Freeman and directed by Edward Mann) and was seen on the TV series Some of My Best Friends are Men (1973). Kennedy was one of many narrators in the second volume of a film entitled Come Back, Africa: The Films of Lionel Rogosin , which discussed African-American history as well as apartheid in South Africa . This film was created to "serve as a unique piece of African American oral history". In 1997, Kennedy received

511-725: A birthday gala at the New York City Playboy Club , sponsored by Christie Hefner —daughter of Hugh Hefner and former CEO of Playboy Enterprises. Kennedy contributed the piece "Institutionalized oppression vs. the female" to the 1970 anthology Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From The Women's Liberation Movement , edited by Robin Morgan . In 1976, Kennedy wrote an autobiography, Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall), in which she wrote about her life and career. She also collaborated with William Francis Pepper on

584-504: A boy crawling on his belly and saying, "I can't wait till I get there and make a killing on the black market!" with actors performing up-tempo rock numbers like "Let's go gay with L.B.J.!" Similar to the "transformation" exercises done earlier in workshops, Viet Rock collected the personal stories of veterans and incorporated them into a satirical antiwar testimonial with a rock and roll soundtrack. Richard Schechner described Viet Rock as "Elizabethan in scope and tone". Some praised

657-515: A child, she wrote, directed, and designed sets for productions staged in the backyard of her family's home, earning her the nicknames "Tallulah Blackhead" and "Sarah Heartburn" from her father. He was not pleased by her interest in theatre. After years of participating in school plays, Terry became a member of the Seattle Repertory Playhouse during her senior year in high school. The liberal politics and activist attitudes of

730-525: A contemporary feminist viewpoint – a tradition maintained in this new show [Wicked Women]." Gloria Rojas of WNEW-TV Midday Live, New York agreed: “Wicked Women is outrageous, funny and, to me, a little shocking.” The group’s productions were widely and positively reviewed, and, with its theatrical emphasis, it became one of the first feminist theater groups reviewed in the New York Times on an ongoing basis. Howard Thompson in his NY Times review called

803-539: A giant named Jack Jack, who represents death, oppression, and violence. It is subtitled "A Trip", which, according to The New York Times review, "in the psychedelic sense, it is", adding: Yes, there is a nude scene in Jack Jack, and it is far more explicit than anything on the New York stage this season. But at the same time, it is so much like a classical painting come to life — of nymphs and satyrs frolicking on

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876-669: A group of Collective playwrights and directors met in an hour-long videotaped interview to recall the above events. Due to the historic presence of the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective in the early days of the Women's movement, the New York Historical Society gathered material - photos, correspondence, scripts, and ephemera - of the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective to add to its collections. Abstract: Records of

949-666: A landmark production for both The Open Theater and Terry as a playwright. The collectively-created piece evolved from workshop improvisations in The Open Theater laboratory, with music by Marianne de Pury . The musical premiered off-off Broadway at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and had a preview run at the Yale Repertory Theatre before opening off-Broadway at the Martinique Theatre on November 10, 1966. Terry described Viet Rock as

1022-1124: A location of Harriet Tubman 's Underground Railroad . In 1974-75, the Collective sponsored a nationwide playwriting contest for women playwrights. The prize was a theatrical production in New York City. As the work of the group grew, so did its administrative needs. At any one time, the Advisory Board of the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective was filled with women dedicated to good writing who were concerned with women's issues. These included Margaret Croyden, author; Alice Denham, author; Elizabeth Fisher, author and founder of Aphra Feminist Literary Journal ; Ellen Frankfort, author and journalist; Carol Greitzer, New York City Councilwoman; Florynce Kennedy , women’s rights activist and civil rights lawyer; Eleanor Perry , screenwriter; Muriel Rukeyser , poet; Alix Kates Shulman , author; Anita Steckel , artist; Tania , artist; and Gloria Steinem , author and founder of Ms. Magazine. In May, 1974,

1095-434: A loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady with a fused spine and three feet of intestines missing and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me. In 1974, People magazine wrote that she was "The biggest, loudest and, indisputably, the rudest mouth on the battleground." In 1977, Kennedy became an associate of

1168-412: A paper that analogized the discourses of race and sex. "Kennedy hoped that comparing 'women' and 'Negroes' would hasten the formation of alliances". Kennedy aimed to make white people nervous by wearing her typical cowboy hat and pink sunglasses. Kennedy graduated from Columbia Law School in 1951. By 1954, she had opened her own office, doing matrimonial work, and some assigned criminal cases. She

1241-634: A preamble to the opening of JUMPIN’ SALTY - a show about historic women in Greenwich Village – they organized a march through downtown Manhattan complete with speakers at numerous historic sites. These included the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire , Margaret Sanger ’s office, and Henrietta Rodman 's Feminist Alliance office at McDougal St., the former Café Society location at Sheridan Square where Lena Horne sang, Bessie Hillman's Women's Trade Union League, and

1314-435: A result of human rights abuse, the issue of solidarity arose between the black power movement and the feminist movement, often forcing activists to choose between the two. Kennedy addressed the discord that feminists had against those who supported both the black power movement and feminism by saying: "We do not support Attica. We ARE Attica. We are Attica or we are nothing." In 1973 Kennedy co-founded with Margaret Sloan-Hunter

1387-437: A summer home on Fire Island , and was a popular fixture on the social scene there, entertaining many activists whom she invited to visit her. Kennedy held regular salons in her apartment on East 48th Street, off Fifth Avenue, in New York City. She would preside over networking and facilitate people meeting each other, sharing ideas, and was always coming up with projects. She would give tours of her apartment, directing guests to

1460-517: A who's who of American feminism of the day, included theater critic Margaret Croyden, activist Florynce Kennedy, poet Muriel Rukeyser , and Ms. magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem . The plays of the WPFC focused on issues at the core of the women's movement like sexual harassment, workplace inequality, dominance and submission, and the exclusion of female celebrants by the religious patriarchy. Productions were staged in several Manhattan venues, among them

1533-411: Is a crock. Why should you lock yourself in the bathroom just because you have to go three times a day? In 1957 Kennedy married science fiction author Charles Dye, who was previously married to fellow science fiction author Katherine MacLean . Dye suffered from alcoholism and died c.  1960 , in his mid-30s. Kennedy never remarried or had children. In 1986 on her 70th birthday, Kennedy had

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1606-491: Is fair to say that Viet Rock was unrivaled in popularity on off-off-Broadway until the advent of the rock musical that was directed by the same man, the rock musical that appeared to take the world by storm: Hair ." Following the mixed reviews of Viet Rock , which was translated and produced internationally, Terry left New York and The Open Theater. She moved to Minnesota and became the writer-in-residence for Minneapolis' Firehouse Theater , where she had previously been

1679-432: Is that we have a pathologically, institutionally racist, sexist, classist society. And that niggerizing techniques that are used don't only damage black people, but they also damage women, gay people, ex-prison inmates, prostitutes, children, old people, handicapped people, native Americans. And that if we can begin to analyze the pathology of oppression… we would learn a lot about how to deal with it." Kennedy kept revisiting

1752-523: The Black Panthers . Kennedy also represented prominent radical feminist Valerie Solanas , who was on trial for the 1968 attempted murder of Andy Warhol . Kennedy played a significant role in formulating the Miss America protest of 1968. The Miss America protest was used as a tool to demonstrate the "exploitation of women". Randolph noted in her book, Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of

1825-610: The Cornish School of Allied Arts . She also organized her first ensemble, the Cornish Players. At this time, she was writing a series of controversial short plays for youth dealing with issues like sex and politics, and adopted a pseudonym to shield her professional career as a playwright from her more conservative colleagues. She chose the name Megan because it was the Celtic root for Marguerite, and Terry in homage to

1898-670: The Internal Revenue Service against the Catholic Church , saying that their campaign against abortion rights violated the separation of church and state. Sherie Randolph outlines in her article "Not to Rely Completely on the Courts" that Kennedy was one of the lawyers in the Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz case, the class action suit that wanted to repeal New York's strict abortion laws. Randolph stated: "This case

1971-706: The Magic Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska , where she remained as playwright-in-residence and literary manager for the remainder of her career. In recognition of her achievements and innovations in the theatre, Terry was elected to lifetime membership in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in 1994. Her other awards have included the 1983 Dramatists Guild Award , an Academy of Theatre Arts Silver Medal for "distinguished contributions to, and service in,

2044-531: The National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO), which also dealt with race and gender issues such as reproductive rights and sterilization campaigns that were aimed at specific races. In 1973, to protest the lack of female bathrooms at Harvard University , women poured jars of fake urine on the steps of the university's Lowell Hall, a protest Kennedy thought of and participated in. When asked about this, she said: I'm just

2117-580: The Rutgers Drama Library. Megan Terry died in Omaha, Nebraska on April 12, 2023, at the age of 90. Florynce Kennedy Florynce Rae Kennedy (February 11, 1916 – December 21, 2000) was an American lawyer , radical feminist , civil rights advocate, lecturer , and activist . Kennedy was born in Kansas City , Missouri , to Wiley Kennedy and Zella Rae Jackman Kennedy, an African-American family. Her father Wiley Kennedy

2190-665: The University of Alberta , and served as technical director for the Edmonton Children's Theater, where she became interested in theatre as a tool for youth education. Midway through her degree program, Terry was forced to return to Seattle when her grandfather became seriously ill. She finished her degree at the University of Washington , where she was awarded a Bachelor of Education degree in 1952. After graduation, she decided to focus on theatre for children and began teaching at Seattle's oldest performance conservatory,

2263-592: The Westbeth Artists' Housing (in the historic Bell Telephone Laboratories Complex at 445-465 West Street, Manhattan) — was one of the earliest feminist theater groups in the United States. Incorporated on 19 October 1972, its founding members included the multi-talented playwrights Helen Duberstein, Hélène Dworzan, Patricia Horan, Gwendolyn Gunn, Christina (a.k.a. Chryse) Maile, Sally Ordway, Dolores Deane Walker, and Susan Yankowitz. Its Board of Sponsors,

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2336-684: The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. A strong opponent of military and interventionist wars, especially the Vietnam War , Kennedy coined the term " Pentagon orrhea ". In 1946, Kennedy wrote a monograph called "The Case Against Marriage", which she later summarized in her autobiography: ...the idea being that marriage

2409-652: The "filthy room" and the "dirty room". Her activism began early. According to Jason Chambers in his book Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry , "After graduating high school, [Kennedy] organized a successful boycott against a Coca-Cola bottler who refused to hire black truck drivers." "Kennedy recalled being arrested for the first time in 1965 when she attempted to reach her home on East 48th Street and police refused to believe she lived in

2482-672: The American theatre", a Yale and a Guggenheim Fellowship , a Robert Chesley Award , two Rockefeller Foundation grants, and a National Endowment for the Arts literature fellowship. Her papers are kept at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and at the Omaha Public Library . Many of her plays are available from Alexander Street Press , and some are available at

2555-414: The Collective for giving them their first real job experience in theater. All productions featured original songs composed and performed by women musicians. The playwrights strongly believed in collective creation among women and operated a separate theater workshop to explore new works. Not limited to theater productions, the playwrights group branched out to produce poetry readings, and film screenings. As

2628-634: The Collective hired Nancy Rhodes as Administrative Director. Subsequently she founded the Encompass New Opera Theatre and has continued for the past thirty years as Artistic Director of that opera company. The Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective, was partially funded as a not-for-profit theater company by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. The name of

2701-433: The Collective's productions, "witty and original.". Mel Gussow said that the Collective's productions work both as "a course in consciousness raising and a call to arms." Debbie Wasserman in her Show Business review of The Wicked Women Revue noted, “It is certainly a pleasure to see a crusading group which doesn’t use its crusade as an excuse for bad theatre, but rather uses good theatre to assist its crusade.” Because it

2774-553: The Media Workshop in 1966, "[using] these sessions to discuss strategies for challenging the media and to stress the importance of sharing tactical information across movement lines." She and others would picket and lobby the media over their representation of Black people. She stated that she would lead boycotts of major advertisers if they did not feature black people in their ads. She attended all three Black Power conferences and represented H. Rap Brown , Assata Shakur and

2847-636: The Theater for the New City, Joseph Jefferson Company, and, at Westbeth, the Westbeth Cabaret and Gallery Theater. Titles include "Rape-In" (May 1971), "Up! An Uppity Revue" (February 1972), "Wicked Women Revue" (January 1973), "? ! A Revue" (May 1973), "We Can Feed Everybody Here" (January 1974), "What Time of Night It Is" (May 1974), "Medea" (January 1975), and "Jumpin' Salty" (April 1975). As publicity for "Jumpin' Salty" — which showcased

2920-399: The Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective featured such women's issues as religious patriarchy, work-place discrimination, dominance/submission relationships, historical figures, masquerade, and sexual harassment. Subsequent to their first production, RAPE-IN, the plays transcended the limiting context of agit-prop theatre by discarding the revenge themes current in much feminist writing at

2993-628: The book Sex Discrimination in Employment: An Analysis and Guide for Practitioner and Student . She died on December 21, 2000, at her home in New York, aged 84. Kennedy was an atheist who was once noted as saying: "It's interesting to speculate how it developed that in two of the most anti-feminist institutions, the church and the law court, the men are wearing the dresses". Kennedy was featured twice in 2020 biopics of other women. In Mrs. America , an FX limited series about Phyllis Schlafly , Niecy Nash portrayed her, while in

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3066-835: The company's directors, Florence and Burton James, had an effect on her view of theatre in society. She has credited their influence, as well as the 1951 closure of the Seattle Repertory Playhouse under pressure from the House Un-American Activities Committee , for her later use of political commentary on stage. Terry went on to earn a scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta , Canada, where she received certificates in theatre directing, design, and acting. While there, she took psychology and sociology courses at

3139-641: The concept of a "play" as a continuing process rather than an end product. The resulting productions exhibited sudden changes in mood, time, or character meant to disrupt the audience's sense of immersion and focus on creating a changing emotional state. These techniques resulted in a theatre experience that feminist scholar Rebecca Bell-Metereau described as filled with "... earthy language, sexual and political content, musical segments, humor, and vaudeville touches [that] all blend to create lively, dynamic experiences for audiences." Terry's most significant contribution to The Open Theater's growing repertoire of exercises

3212-477: The council was short-lived, it served as a consciousness-raising organization early in the development of 1970's feminist theatre , and facilitated the authorship of numerous important feminist plays. While in New York, Terry reconnected with Chaikin and The Open Theater to work with fellow playwrights Sam Shepard and Jean-Claude van Itallie on the company's final production, Nightwalk , in 1973. Following this production, Terry again left New York and settled at

3285-529: The ensemble's outrage at the United States ' decision to go to war with Vietnam. In protest, Terry and her ensemble began work on what would become Viet Rock : Just as we were on the brink of major breakthroughs in acting, playwriting, and directing, we had to throw all our energies into stopping the war in Viet Nam. Much work got postponed, other work accelerated out of the necessity of dealing with

3358-639: The green — that no one in Minneapolis seems to have objected loudly enough to attract the censors. For several years, Terry split her time between theatre in Minnesota and commissions for television and public radio, including the program Home: Or Future Soap (1968). She did return to New York City to develop new plays such as Changes (1968) at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club , St. Hydro Clemency , and Massachusetts Trust , all directed by Tom O'Horgan . Approaching Simone (1970), Terry's play about

3431-422: The group is derived from Westbeth Artists Housing – an affordable housing complex for artists in New York City, where most of the playwrights lived and worked, and which made accessible to the Collective free rehearsal space, and sometimes, production space. Rape-In , the playwrights’ first show, began as a workshop project at the suggestion of a male playwright in a then-mixed Westbeth playwrights' group. But it

3504-540: The inequity of a capitalistic economic power structure on individuals, families, and criminal justice, and Ex-Miss Copper Queen on a Set of Pills , the story of an ex- beauty queen who has begun working as a prostitute to support her drug addiction . Ex-Miss Copper Queen on a Set of Pills opened in 1963 at Edward Albee's Playwrights Unit Workshop. Despite the success of these early productions, Terry had to support herself by working as an actress in television serials. In her free time, she began forming connections in

3577-628: The lives of notable women in American history such as birth control advocate Margaret Sanger and the largely female victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire — the WPFC organized a march through Greenwich Village, with stops to hear speakers at sites connected to the women and events. The WPFC staged a production of the Gertrude Stein-Virgil Thomson opera based on the life of Susan B. Anthony, "The Mother of Us All" (April–May 1976). They also sponsored readings by poets, Judy Grahn and Honor Moore, and hosted screenings of

3650-520: The marginalization of women with a sense of humor and a commitment to good writing. Linda Killian, in analyzing the group’s first production, RAPE-IN, wrote that they “used humor, anger, and horror, sometimes in combination, sometimes alone. Kevin Sanders, in his 1973 WABC Eyewitness News review of WICKED WOMEN stated: “Their two earlier highly successful shows, RAPE-IN and UP!–AN UPPITY REVUE! were sharp, perceptive and fiercely satirical representations of

3723-440: The move to New York she commented, "I really didn't come here to go to school, but the schools were here, so I went." In 1944 she began classes at Columbia University School of General Studies , majoring in pre-law and graduated in 1949. However, when she applied to the university's law school, she was refused admission. In her autobiography Kennedy wrote, The Associate Dean, Willis Reese, told me I had been rejected not because I

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3796-406: The neighborhood. From that point on, she focused her attention on combatting racism and discrimination." She worked as an activist for feminism and civil rights , and the cases she took on increasingly tended to be related to these causes. She was close friends with fellow Columbia law graduate Morton Birnbaum MD, whose concept of sanism she influenced during the 1960s. Kennedy established

3869-587: The nineteenth-century actress Ellen Terry . Terry faced backlash for the edginess of her earliest plays, Beach Grass and Go out (1955) and Move the Car (1955). She became increasingly frustrated with creative and political restraint in the Seattle theatre community, and decided to move to New York City. Once there, she continued writing plays dealing with social and political issues, including The Magic Realist (1960), which uses vaudeville techniques to burlesque

3942-457: The problem of war. That's how Viet Rock came into being, out of necessity. Women playing men—the actresses as Vietnamese happened because we didn't have enough men in the company, and those we had were constantly leaving for paying jobs. As the first rock musical to be written and performed in the United States, and the first play to address America's involvement in Vietnam, Viet Rock was

4015-495: The role of black feminists was diplomatic without being evasive." Kennedy supported abortion rights and co-authored the book Abortion Rap with Diane Schulder. The phrase "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament" is sometimes attributed to Kennedy, although Gloria Steinem attributed it to "an old Irish woman taxi driver in Boston" whom she said she and Kennedy met. In 1972, Kennedy filed tax evasion charges with

4088-489: The same aim: "urging women to examine the sources of their oppression. She spoke of day to day acts of resistance that we can all take and hold her own arrests and political actions." Kennedy summed up her protest strategy as "Mak[ing] white people nervous". Kennedy often dressed in a cowboy hat and pink sunglasses . Another trademark in public appearances were false eyelashes, which she referred to as her " Daffy Duck " lashes, and which she used to great effect. Kennedy had

4161-752: The short-lived but groundbreaking Westbeth Playwrights' Feminist Collective, one of the earliest feminist theater groups in the United States. Incorporated 1972 and dissolved 1976, the WPFC was headquartered at the historic Westbeth Artists' Housing on West Street, Manhattan, and produced plays by feminist authors focused on issues central to the women's movement like sexual harassment and workplace inequality. The collection includes scripts, publicity material, articles and reviews, some correspondence, ephemera, and photographs of select production scenes and WP members. Quantity: 1.04 Linear Feet (in 3 boxes) Call Phrase: MS 3056 Historical Note: The Westbeth Playwrights' Feminist Collective (WPFC) — named for its headquarters in

4234-409: The theatre community, including with fellow playwright Maria Irene Fornes and director Joseph Chaikin . Chaikin was then working with The Living Theatre . Terry and Chaikin, together with Peter Feldman and Barbara Vann , founded The Open Theater in 1963. The Open Theater was a cooperative that progressed from a closed experimental laboratory to an ensemble. The Open Theater used the methods of

4307-406: The time, and instead strove to accurately reflect the complexity of women’s lives and celebrate their accomplishments. The company was especially noteworthy for writing about women's issues with lacerating humor in often absurdist situations. Christopher Olsen in his book, Off Off Broadway 1968 -1970 The Second Wave (2011), noted the playwrights’ abilities to balance a serious social message about

4380-449: The twentieth-century French feminist philosopher Simone Weil , won the 1969/1970 Obie Award for Best Off-Broadway Play. Terry took a stronger interest in women's issues after the production of Approaching Simone and began working to increase the visibility of women in theatre. Along with Fornes, Rosalyn Drexler , Julie Bovasso , Adrienne Kennedy , and Rochelle Owens , Terry founded New York's Women's Theater Council in 1972. Though

4453-428: The vigor of the play's social protest, while others did not. New York Times critic Walter Kerr called the musical "truly distressing" and "an essentially thoughtless from-the-gut-only noise." Cast member Gerome Ragni borrowed Terry's anti-war theme, improvisational technique, and rock and roll aesthetic to create the musical Hair with fellow actor James Rado . Canadian playwright Gary Botting noted, "It

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4526-592: The work of women filmmakers. Archival references and material: Megan Terry Marguerite Duffy (July 22, 1932 – April 12, 2023), known professionally as Megan Terry , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre artist. Terry produced over fifty works for theater, radio, and television, and is best known for her avant-garde theatrical work from the 1960s. As a founding member of The Open Theater , she developed an actor-training and character-creation technique known as "transformation". She used this technique to create her 1966 work Viet Rock , which

4599-424: The worldwide collective theater movement and was particularly inspired by the work of the acting teacher, Nola Chilton , and the innovator of theater games , Viola Spolin . Along with her colleagues at The Open Theater, Terry began working on exercises to produce a new kind of collaborative performance based on a "radical program of communal engagement in the nonhierarchical and collaborative ensemble" that viewed

4672-585: Was "transformation", in which the actors would improvise overheard dialogue in an effort to "transform" into characters coping with various situations. These exercises fueled Terry's work as she and the company produced such plays as Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place at the Sheridan Square Playhouse and Gloaming, Oh My Darling at the Martinique Theater, both in 1965. The self-guided theatre experiments were cut short by

4745-472: Was a Pullman porter , and later had a taxi business. The second of her parents' five daughters, she had a happy childhood, full of support from her parents, despite experiencing poverty in the Great Depression and racism in her mostly white neighborhood. Kennedy remembered a time when her father had to be armed with a shotgun in order to ward off the strong neighborhood Ku Klux Klan presence that

4818-429: Was a Black but because I was a woman. So I wrote him a letter saying that whatever the reason was, it felt the same to me, and some of my more cynical friends thought I had been discriminated against because I was Black. Kennedy met with the dean and threatened to sue the school. They admitted her. She was the only black person among eight women in her class. In a 1946 sociology class at Columbia University Kennedy wrote

4891-711: Was a member of the Young Democrats . In 1956, she formed a legal partnership with the lawyer who had represented Billie Holiday in regards to drug charges. Kennedy then came to represent Holiday's estate, and also that of Charlie Parker . Kennedy acted in the films The Landlord (1970), adapted from Kristin Hunter 's 1966 novel, in which she played "Enid", and the independent political drama Born In Flames (1983), directed by Lizzie Borden , in which she played "Zella". Kennedy also acted in Who Says I Can't Ride

4964-773: Was an early member of the National Organization for Women , but left them in 1970, dissatisfied with their approach to change. In 1971 she founded the Feminist Party, which nominated Shirley Chisholm for president. She also helped found the National Women's Political Caucus . Beginning in 1972 she served on the advisory board of the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective , a New York City theatre group that produced plays on feminist issues. Kennedy's "position on

5037-476: Was both the first rock musical and the first play to address the war in Vietnam . Terry was born, as Marguerite Duffy, to Marguerite (née Henry) and businessman Harold Joseph in Seattle, Washington . She first showed an interest in the theatre after attending a play at the age of seven. She wrote, "I went and I looked at the stage and I fell madly in love... I knew I wanted to do that, whatever it was." As

5110-553: Was one of the first to use women who suffered from illegal abortions as expert witnesses instead of relying on physicians." "These tactics were eventually used in the Roe v. Wade case, in 1973, which overturned restrictive abortion laws." Kennedy was a lawyer for the Women's Health Collective and 350 plaintiffs in a similar lawsuit about abortion in New York. After the 1971 rebellion at Attica Prison in New York State arose as

5183-421: Was specifically a women's playwrights’ and producing group, the Collective hired professional actors, and group members did not perform. While the Collective used both male and female actors - unusual for feminist stage productions in the 1970s – the company offered serious employment opportunities for women stage managers, directors, producers, and lighting designers. Many women currently working in theatre credit

5256-628: Was the women who wrote on the theme, and when they did, they discovered they were all feminists. The Collective also presented the work of other feminists: After five years of theatre productions, the Westbeth Playwrights Collective disbanded, each member to pursue individual careers - some as playwrights, poets, television and nonfiction writers. Others, perhaps encouraged by the avenues of opportunity they had striven to open, became bishops, attorneys, landscape architects, publishers, printmakers, and videographers. Recently

5329-583: Was trying to drive her family out. She later commented: "My parents gave us a fantastic sense of security and worth. By the time the bigots got around to telling us that we were nobody, we already knew we were somebody." Kennedy graduated at the top of her class at Lincoln High School , after which she worked many jobs including owning a hat shop and operating elevators. After the death of her mother Zella in 1942, Kennedy left Missouri for New York City , moving to an apartment in Harlem with her sister Grayce. Of

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