The prolific theatrical activity that abounded on the stages of early modern Europe demonstrates that drama was a genre that transcended national borders. The transnational character of early modern theater reflects the rich admixture of various dramatic traditions, such as Spain's comedia and Italy's commedia dell'arte, but also the transformations across cultures of Spanish novellas to French plays and English interludes. Of particular import to this study is the role that women and gender played in this cross-pollination of theatrical sources and practices. Contributors to the volume not only investigate the gendered effect of Spanish texts and literary types on English and French drama, they address the actual journeys of Spanish actresses to French theaters and of Italian actresses to the Spanish stage, while several emphasize the movement of royal women to various courts and their impact on theatrical activity in Spain and abroad. In their innovative focus on women's participation and influence, the chapters in this volume illustrate the frequent yet little studied transnational and transcultural points of contact between Spanish theater and the national theaters of England, France, Austria, and Italy.

'There's a lot of stigma attached to sex. Particularly with women, you have a big dichotomy between: Do you have sex? Do you not? Do you be a slut? Do you be a virgin? Do you be a prude? Do you be a man-whore? You can't really win.' Women are always being told how to be sexy, but are rarely asked what actually turns them on. Wendy Jones wanted to find out, so she interviewed twenty-four women from all walks of life, including a burlesque dancer, a girl guide leader, a shop assistant, a ninety-four year old who remembers the sexual freedom of the war, a transexual, a nun, a feminist into BDSM, a covered Muslim, a mother, a student, a polyamorist, and a sexual healer. The women talked about their lives, bodies, sexual fantasies and relationships, about what they've learned, how they have been hurt, what they enjoy and what they long for. The interviews are frank, engaging, and surprising. Each woman is unique but together they speak for a majority, and it's time we listened. This honest and inspiring exploration of female desire will change the way we think and talk about sex forever. 'English women have a reputation for being reserved and uptight; actually behind closed doors we're outrageous.'

Love, sex and desire . . . how do we experience them? How do we relate them to the opposite sex? In 24 short chapters Alina Reyes writes in a range of styles: she can be erotic, poetic, humorous and candid. She describes her fantasies and her relationship with her own body. Alina Reyes also examines the social pressures, which lead to the premature deaths of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, and which contribute to widespread attitudes of machismo and/or shame. A serious examination of the nature of desire and how it fits in with the strictures of society.

Alina Reyes, one of the first female authors of erotica, has written several novels including the bestseller "The Butcher" (1988), which sold 500,000 copies in her native France.

Sex Talk shows how opening up discussions on bodies, sexuality and pleasure can lead to much, much better sex and self-esteem, by the eminent French feminist pornographer Olympe de Gê and feminist writer Stéphanie Estournet. Sex Talk has a clear mission – breaking the taboo of taboos – by opening up the discussion of sex and desire in a clear, engaging and motivational way. The book takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery through nine chapters, discussing everything from self-stimulation, exploring sexual orientation, communicating wants and desires with a partner, staying safe online when sexting, exploring erotica and porn and creating private content – but at the core is the pervading importance of owning your sexual self. A manifesto for sex positivity, Sex Talk is a book that every womxn should read; it’s straight talking, accessible, and most importantly, focuses on what we should be asking ourselves, as opposed to reinforcing the damaging, age-old stereotypes and constructs surrounding sex that detract from personal pleasure.

"Bisexuality is about three centuries overdue . . . nevertheless, here it is: a learned, witty study of how our curious culture has managed to get everything wrong about sex." -Gore Vidal

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

'Funny and refreshing' Independent 'Forthright but funny feminism shines through' Grazia 'Enlightening, inspiring, funny, shocking and brave, every woman should get a copy' Stylist I want to have slow sex, work out what to do with a penis, and experience the fourteen different types of female orgasm. In her mid-thirties, Lucy-Anne Holmes still felt like a novice when it came to sex. But when she tried to find out what she could do about it, she realised everything she googled was geared to male pleasure rather than to women's. Determined not to let this stop her, Lucy penned a list and set out to discover what her sex life was missing. She embarked on an adventure which would change her life. Lucy has written the book about sex she wanted to read. It will make you snort with laughter one minute and weep the next; it is frank, eye-opening and inspiring, and will speak to women everywhere.

Thomas Martorelli's For People, Not for Profit tells the story of Fenway Health's growth from a small, volunteer-run walk-in clinic to an international leader into an international leader in care and research for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and people living with HIV/AIDS. It is also the story of the tremendous societal changes that drove and affected that growth. The community activism and volunteer collectives of the 1970s; the devastation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic which emerged in the 1980s; the LGBT civil rights movement that gained strength and momentum through the 1990s; and the advances in research and advocacy that have brought so many health care and civil rights victories in the 2000s - it's all there. At the same time, Martorelli tells us Fenway's story through the voices of the people who were and are still a part of this incredible organization - from the early ups and downs through Fenway's growth into one of the largest LGBT health organizations in the world.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"In order to find The One, you must become The One." Dr. Alex Schiller doles out hilarious yet profoundly wise dating advice in her new sex and dating manual, which will transform you into an Exceptional Individual capable of seducing everyone you meet."My name is Dr. Alex Schiller and I Never Sleep Alone. Unless I want to. Man or woman, rich or poor, teenage or elderly--NSA will transform YOU into The One that everyone wants..." For the past three years in New York City, Dr. Alex (not a real doctor) has been performing her hit comedy and dating show "Never Sleep Alone" to sold out audiences, helping thousands of people from all over the world transform themselves and fulfill their sociosexual desires. Now, with her signature blend of outrageous humor and profound wisdom, the celebrated guru has created an interactive sex and dating guide that takes you on a fantastic journey of exciting new adventures, self-discovery, and transformation. With her nine NSA Principles, her compulsively quotable NSA Truths, and her interactive NSA Challenges, Dr. Alex inspires us all to laugh at ourselves, to make real human connections, and, most importantly, to Never Sleep Alone. Unless we want to.

Dancing Motherhood explores how unique factors about the dance profession impact mothers working in it. Ali Duffy introduces the book by laying a foundation of social and cultural histories and trends leading to the issues mothers in dance negotiate today. This study then reveals perspectives from mothers in dance working in areas such as performance choreography, dance education, writing, and advocacy though survey and interview data. Based on participant responses, recommendations for changes in policy, hiring, evaluation, and other work practices to better support working mothers in dance are outlined and discussed. Finally, essays from five working mothers in dance offers more intimate, personal stories and guidance geared to mothers, future mothers, and colleagues and supervisors of mothers in the dance field. By describing lived experiences and offering suggestions for improved working conditions and self-advocacy, this book initiates expanded discussion about women in dance and promotes change to positively impact dancing mothers, their employers, and the dance field.

Winner of the 2011 AASECT Book Award! Co-authors of Men's Sexual Health, Michael Metz and Barry McCarthy have come together to inspire and motivate readers in their newest book, Enduring Desire. Real-life examples and clear, helpful individual and couple exercises allow readers to reach for realistic and high quality sexual satisfaction as a couple. Throughout the book, the authors promote positive, realistic sexual expectations without commercialism and the hyped, exotic promises that only set people up for disappointment. The message is down-to-earth and full of joy for all couples from their 20s to their 80s. The authors advocate the variable, flexible "Good Enough Sex" (GES) model, which validates the inherent variability and flexibility of couple sexuality and examines the biopsychosocial, multidimensional, and comprehensive roles, functions and meanings of couple sexuality.

Winner of the 2009 Smart Marriages (R) Impact Award Think all sex should be earth shattering? The quality of most couple sex doesn't measure up to the much distorted image of the perfect romantic love/passionate sex encounter portrayed in popular culture. In Discovering Your Couple Sexual Style: Sharing Desire, Pleasure, and Satisfaction, renowned marital and sex therapist Barry McCarthy and his wife Emily McCarthy urge couples to ignore what they see on TV, in books, or online, and discover their own unique sexual style. The McCarthys offer three guidelines for sexual satisfaction: develop positive, realistic sexual expectations; explore sensual and sexual options; and communicate sexual desires. With this foundation, couples can take a straightforward survey to determine which of four couple sexual styles best fits their relationship. Based on three years of research and treating more than 4,000 individuals and couples, Discovering Your Couple Sexual Style provides information, guidelines, exercises, and case studies that will help readers find their own sexual voice and develop a mutually satisfying sexual style.

On those nights when you are spending time with that someone special. A little thing to spice up your nights and to warm the senses.

Sex in the Outdoors says it all! If you enjoy-or strive to have the opportunity to enjoy-sex in the vast outdoors, then you've laid hands on the ultimate resource. Benefits include: Increased self-esteem Increased awareness of bears and other critters Increased fitness of necessary body parts Increased awareness of possible partners Increased interest in getting it Increased chance of getting it Increased chance of getting away with it Whether you want it, someone you know wants it, or you have a sex-starved niece or nephew who needs it-Buck Tilton's Sex in the Outdoors promises to deliver the intimate yet practical information all sex-crazed outdoor folks need to know, whether they know they need to know or not."Outdoor passion without proper planning can have unexpected consequences, such as your partner moaning, "Oh, Baby, is that poison oak?" Thank goodness for the Minister of Sex, Buck Tilton, M.S., and his book." -Michael Hodgson, author of the humor series No Shit, There I Was and publisher of www.geartrends.com

In this extraordinary and bold book, S.H. Clark explores and constructs a history of poetic misogyny. For the first time, a wide range of English poetry by men is examined for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desires.
But Clark goes beyond a straightforward oppositional model of reading the male canon, to ask how we read this work 'after feminism', and whether it is possible to value these texts as misogynist texts in the light of feminist theory?
Sordid Images is a challenging, controversial book. It will excite and unsettle its readers, and inspire many to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.

This book provides an engaging and contextualised insight into a South African township-based arts centre that has survived the vicissitudes of steady militarisation in townships during some of the worst years of apartheid as well as the exhilaration of a new democratic policy while attempting to circumnavigate different policies and funding dispensations.

Sibikwa provides arts centres across the world and especially those in decolonising countries with strategies for survival in tumultuous times. This multi-disciplinary book maps and co-ordinates wider historical, political, and social contextual concerns and events with matters specific to a community-based east of Johannesburg and provides an exploration and analysis by experts of authentic theatre-making and performance, dance, indigenous music, arts in education and NGO governance. It has contemporary significance and raises important questions regarding inclusivity and transformation, the function and future of arts centres, community-based applied arts practices, creativity, and international partnerships.

This study will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre and performance, indigenous music, dance, and South African history.

Table of Contents

List of contributors

Acknowledgements

　

PART 1

Chapter 1. The Political is Personal: Smal Ndaba and Phyllis Klotz in Thumbnail Portraits of Origins and Orientations

Sarah Roberts

Chapter 2. Founding Sibikwa: A Professional Partnership Tempered in the Forge of Apartheid’s Final Years

Sarah Roberts

Chapter 3. Democracy, the First Decade: The Mandela-Mbeki Years (1994-2005)

Sarah Roberts

Chapter 4. The Trouble with Freedom: Mbeki’s Dream of an African Renaissance, Nation-building and Issues Surrounding HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Sarah Roberts

Chapter 5. Issues of Governance, Policy, Delivery, and Accountability Escalate: Sibikwa Responds to Developments in Arts and Culture Policy Documents and with Theatre-in-Education Projects

Sarah Roberts

　

Chapter 6. The Struggle for Social Justice in Confronting Gender-based Violence and Srategies of Intensifying an African Cultural Heritage as the Project Moves into the Future

Sarah Roberts

Appendix :1 A Chronology of Major Political Events, Cultural Developments and Sibikwa Plays

PART II

Chapter 7.Governance of Sibikwa Arts Centre: A Reflection on the Agility, Progress, and Longevity of the Organisation

Munyaradzi Chatikobo and Caryn Green

Chapter 8. Sibikwa’s Educational Programmes

Vanessa Bower and Hazel Barnes

Appendix 2: A Chronology of Educational and Vocational Training Programmes

Chapter 9. Living Proof: Thirty Years of Sibikwa’s Theatre Productions

Sarah Roberts

Appendix 3: A Chronology of Sibikwa Productions

Chapter 10. Celebrating Sibikwa’s Legacy of Dance and Physical Theatre from Community to Professional Dance Development

Clare Craighead and Lliane Loots

Appendix 4: A Chronology of Sibikwa Dance Company Productions and Festivals

Chapter 11. Keeping the African Sound Relevant

Evans Netshivhambe

Appendix 5: A Chronology of Sibikwa’s Music History

Chapter 12. Framing the Intersectional Gender Politics of the Sibikwa Legacy

Lliane Loots

Appendix 6- A Chronology of Gender Based Productions, Festivals and Training

Index

List of Contributors

Phyllis Klotz is the artistic director and co-founder of the Sibikwa Arts Centre in Benoni and has been at the forefront of arts training and development for youth for over 40 years. Her work has always been focused on the empowerment of young black females. She has been and still is involved in developmental theatre and arts education and is recognised as an expert in the development of community arts centres. She is the recipient of several awards for her contribution to South African theatre and has directed and co-written the seminal theatre piece, You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock. She has served on boards of the National Arts Council, State Theatre, CATHSSETA and the Market Theatre. She is also the recipient of the Naledi Lifetime Achievement Award.

Smal Ndaba is the co-founder and managing director of the Sibikwa Arts Centre; as an actor, playwright and director he has toured all over Southern Africa, the USA and Europe and has gained both national and international recognition for his work. He has initiated arts programmes to assist street children and juvenile prisoners; he assists South African and Mozambican community arts centres to build capacity. The majority of plays directed and written by Smal, focus on community issues. Smal has over 30 years’ experience working in the community arts and imparts his knowledge frequently through conducting workshops in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the USA. He is joint winner of the Naledi Lifetime Achievement Award 2005 with co-director Phyllis Klotz.

Prof Hazel Barnes is retired head of the Drama and Performance Studies Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus where she lectured, researched, performed and directed theatre and also developed the applied drama and theatre option. She was the university orator for a number of years and also assistant Dean. Since retirement she has been a Mellon visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town and visiting lecturer and chair of the research committee of the Drama for Life Programme University of the Witwatersrand. She has written on the use of applied drama with the deaf, for reconciliation and trauma recovery, and on the work of South African playwrights, Greig Coetzee, whose plays she has anthologised, and Mandla Mothwe.

Vanessa Bower studied English and Speech & Drama and taught at various institutions in Cape Town. In 1998 she joined the staff of Sibikwa Community Theatre Project, where she facilitated teacher training programmes for seven years. She was later involved in the Learnership Programmes and subsequently trained a number of artists in arts facilitation at Sibikwa, in preparation for the Artists in Schools Programme. She has published a book on Assessment of Arts & Culture and has produced Creative Arts teacher support manuals for the Gauteng Department of Education. She has also provided training in Workplace Communications.

Munyaradzi Chatikobo is a Lecturer in Drama for Life and Cultural Policy and Management in the Wits School of Arts. He has considerable experience in Cultural Leadership and Arts Management training. His academic and research interests are in Cultural Policy and Management which includes Community Arts, Culture and Development, Cultural and Creative Industries, Culture and Diplomacy as well as Social and Cultural Entrepreneurship. He is a board member for Nhimbe Trust and CHIPAWO Trust in Zimbabwe. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Andani.Africa. He is a registered PhD candidate in the Wits School of Arts and his area of study is Cultural Policy and Community Theatre in South Africa. In 2018 he teamed up with Avril Joffe, Johanna Mavhungu and Annabell Lebethe to author a book chapter on Cultural Governance in South Africa. The chapter appears in a book edited by Ian W King and Annick Schramme titled Cultural Governance in the Global Context; An International Perspective on Arts Organisations (Palgrave).

Clare Craighead has been the company manager to Flatfoot Dance Company for the past 15 years. She holds an MA degree in Drama and Performance Studies from UKZN and has published in Critical Arts, South African Theatre Journal, South African Dance Journal and Agenda: A Journal of Feminist Media. Craighead spearheaded and continues to facilitate the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival’s graduate writing residency programme. "JOMBA! KHULUMA". which is an intensive platform that takes graduate students - under festival conditions - through the rigours of reviewing and critically engaging dance. She has also been a contract lecturer/tutor to UKZN’s Drama and Performance Studies and Gender Studies Programmes and has a long-standing position as a moderator for Embury Institute for Education’s "Education and Diversity" module. Currently she is working as a lecturer at Durban University of Technology’s Drama and Production Studies Department.

Dr Lliane Loots holds the position of Lecturer in the Drama and Performance Studies Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has a MA degree in Gender Studies and completed her PhD in 2018 looking at contemporary dance/performance histories on the African continent. As an artist/scholar her PhD research is framed within an ethnographic and autoethnographic paradigm with a focus on narrative as methodology. Loots has published widely within this area of academic/praxis enquiry. Loots holds the founding position of Artistic Director for UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts annual international JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience – a festival that turns 23 in 2021. She has recently completed a 3-year stretch on the National Arts Festival’s Artistic Committee for dance. Loots founded Flatfoot Dance Company as a professional dance company in 2003 when it grew out of a dance training programme that originally began in 1994. As the artistic director and resident choreographer for Flatfoot, she has won numerous national choreographic awards and commissions and has travelled extensively in Europe, America and within the African continent with her dance work. Loots was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government in 2017 for her work in the South African dance sector.

Dr Evans Netshivhambe (ORCiD: 0000-0003-0362-4110) is a young South African composer lecturing in African music at the University of Pretoria with an interest in African music identity through African art composition. His PhD in African music composition incorporates Venda rhythmic elements into African art music, exploring a new 'sound world' through composition. He is currently a lecturer in African music studies, at the University of Pretoria. In 2008, Evans was awarded third prize in a choral music competition held by the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), which showcased 20th century choral music style. He also received three commissions from the SAMRO Foundation (in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively).

Dr Sarah Roberts’(ORCiD:0000-0002-4383-4668) areer synthesises professional practice with a commitment to education, development and scholarship. Recently retired from the University of the Witwatersrand, where she was an Associate Professor, she has developed and implemented a range of undergraduate courses in cultural studies, performance and design in the Division of Theatre and Performance. Her focus on developing improvisation skills and the agency of actors as an ensemble is documented in publications in the Journal of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa and the Journal of Contemporary Drama in English. A multi-award-winning professional production designer, her portfolio includes significant productions emerging from South Africa since 1985 including designing the stage for the Union Building Gardens for President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration in addition to landmark productions across the spectrum of musical theatre, contemporary dance and drama, including Sarafina!, Sophiatown andNothing But the Truth. These productions, including a significant number of Sibikwa productions over the span of thirty years, have been feted nationally and internationally. One of the original Board members of Sibikwa at its inception, she served as a trustee for the project for ten years and has since continued to be closely associated with a range of Sibikwa projects, productions and conferences.

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This book offers a unique Australian perspective on the global crisis in refugee protection. Using performance as both an object and a lens, this volume explores the politics and aesthetics of migration control, border security and refugee resistance. The first half of the book, titled On Stage, examines performance objects such as verbatim and documentary plays, children's theatre, immersive performance, slam poetry, video art and feature films. Specifically, it considers how refugees, and their artistic collaborators, assert their individuality, agency and authority as well as their resistance to cruel policies like offshore processing through performance. The second half of the book, titled Off Stage, employs performance as a lens to analyse the wider field of refugee politics, including the relationship between forced migrants and the forced displacement of First Nations peoples that underpins the settler-colonial state, philosophies of cosmopolitanism, the role of the canon in art history and the spectacle of bordering practices. In doing so, it illuminates the strategic performativity-and nonperformativity-of the law, philosophy, the state and the academy more broadly in the exclusion and control of refugees. Taken together, the chapters in this volume draw on, and contribute to, a wide range of disciplines including theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, border studies and forced migration studies, and will be of great interest to students and scholars in all four fields.

'Radical, honest and timely' FOX FISHER 'Fascinating' ASH PALMISCIANO 'A cracking read' MEG-JOHN BARKER "This book is about my penis. This is my story of going through lower surgery, specifically phalloplasty, and the adventures I have with my changing genitals along the way. Welcome to my journey." After coming out as trans, Finlay Games was adamant lower surgery would not be a part of his transition, but as the years went by, and his gender dysphoria increased, he decided to explore surgical options. Detailing the emotional and physical journey of phalloplasty, this book takes the reader through Finlay's experiences, from the initial decision-making through each stage of the surgery to its completion, recovery and after-care. Describing how he had to relearn his body, sexuality and his relationships, Finlay shares his wealth of advice and tips on donor site options, different types of surgery, the referral process, essential items and resources, and looking after your mental health. Part memoir, part self-help guide, this insightful, witty and deeply honest book highlights the life-changing impact surgery can have for trans people and provides hope to those on a similar journey.

A comprehensive astrological guide to life, relationships and lovers, "Astrology for Lovers" is a seminal guide to learning how to interpret the subtle and not-so subtle attributes of both your own and your partner's astrological sign in order to create a better understanding of one another. Each person has a unique footprint in the map of the cosmos, and "Astrology for Lovers" guides the reader through each of the Sun signs in an enlightening and comprehensive manner. Each sign is given a lengthy description of its characteristics, as well its creation myth. Greene then expands upon the sign's shadowy side, and finally explicates the fine points of the individual sign as a lover. "Astrology for Lovers" will teach readers not only critical aspects of their own motivations, but also provide invaluable insight into the inner workings of their lovers.

Let's get it on! Make your love life sizzle with this collection of mind-blowing sex positions inspired by the classic Eastern book of erotica. With positions ranging from slow and sensual to frisky and fun, this book features all the classics as well as adventurous new positions to try. You'll never want to go back to missionary again. The original Kama Sutra was an ancient text that provided insights into finding happiness and fulfilment with your partner - but it also depicted varied sexual positions and techniques, for a satisfying sex life. Saving you from spending your vital energy on wading through any non-raunchy teachings, this little book contains a hand-picked selection of the best and most exhilarating positions for any kind of mood. Find out all about such delights as: The Lap of Luxury The Glowing Triangle The Splitting Bamboo The Crouching Tiger The Ascent to Desire May this book help you to open your mind (as well as your legs). Remember - make love, not war!

For anyone who has wondered Why does everyone else seem to be able to make romantic relationships work, and I can't? What's wrong with me? Why is love so hard? Psychologist and bestselling memoirist Kerry Cohen is all too familiar with the questions she often hears from her clients-and has asked herself. Even though sex and love are some of the most universal, sought-after experiences we have, many of us lack the tools and understanding to approach them in a healthy way. Without knowing it, many people struggling with sex and love actually fall somewhere on the spectrum of sex and love addiction (SLA). Sex and love addiction is still wildly misunderstood. It's shrouded in secrecy and shame, and many counselors lack the training to address it-leaving people who need help without resources. Yet SLA isn't a binary of you are or you aren't, rather, it's a spectrum. Kerry Cohen knows this all too well as both a therapist and someone who identifies on the SLA spectrum. Based on research and her own clinical experience, Crazy for You dives into SLA and provides an inclusive framework for understanding relationships, along with practical exercises and advice for self-assessment, discovery, and healing:Part one explains the sex and love addiction spectrum, helping you determine where you fall on it and how you got therePart two introduces strategies for breaking the spell of sex and love addiction, like behavior modifications and self-awareness techniquesPart three teaches you how to navigate healthy, safe, and fulfilling relationships

The perfect Valentine's Day gift! AS FEATURED IN THE SUN Everything you need to know to have the best sex according to your star sign. Next time you have sex, you'll be seeing stars... Harness the power of the zodiac to guide you to pleasure that's out of this world. From what sex positions will have you ascending, to the turn-ons that'll make more than just the moon rise, as well sex toys, masturbation tips and more - this little book has big astrology energy. A cheeky hardback with foil on the cover corresponding to your sign's element (earth, water, air or fire) and illustrations throughout - this is the perfect guide for out-of-this-world fun. It's time to let your ruling planet show you how to rule the bedroom.

Once again, Nigel Cawthorne takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the strange, hidden sexual history of England. The history of sex in Britain has been largely glossed over by 'proper' historians: Nigel Cawthorne has burrowed deep into the archives to reveal exactly what our ancestors got up to in bed (and out of it). There are chapters on the ancient arts of seduction, adultery, brothels, 'the English vice', contraception, defloration, and many more - from the torrid Tudors to the supposedly strait-laced Victorians.

'I've been waiting for someone to write this book for years: a thorough-going analysis and reconsideration of American approaches to Stanislavsky from a feminist perspective ... lively, intelligent, and engaging.' Phillip Zarrilli, University of Exeter

'Theatre people of any gender will be transformed by Rose Malague 's eye-opening study An Actress Prepares... This book will be useful to all scholars and practitioners determined to make gender equity central to how they hone their craft and their thinking.' Jill Dolan, Princeton University

'Every day, thousands of women enter acting classes where most of them will receive some variation on the Stanislavsky-based training that has now been taught in the U.S. for nearly ninety years. Yet relatively little feminist consideration has been given to the experience of the student actress: What happens to women in Method actor training?'

An Actress Prepares is the first book to interrogate Method acting from a specifically feminist perspective. Rose Malague addresses "the Method" not only with much-needed critical distance, but also the crucial insider's view of a trained actor. Case studies examine the preeminent American teachers who popularized and transformed elements of Stanislavsky 's System within the U.S. Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, and Hagen by analyzing and comparing their related but distinctly different approaches.

This book confronts the sexism that still exists in actor training and exposes the gender biases embedded within the Method itself. Its in-depth examination of these Stanislavskian techniques seeks to reclaim Method acting from its patriarchal practices and to empower women who act.