La dramaturgia de Cristina Escofet: deconstruccion de los arquetipos femeninos de todos los tiempos

The last decades have seen an increasing interest in and production of Feminine and Feminist Theater in Latin America. By raising women's consciousness of the need to replace those identities imposed by society with new identities, individual identities that evolve from within the self, a new woman will emerge, aware of her uniqueness and value as a human being. My dissertation explores the various strategies in the works of Cristina Escofet, which deconstruct the accepted norms of masculinity and femininity and expose them as mere social constructs that serve to discriminate against any behavior or discourse that strays from accepted norms. Playwrights like Escofet are (re)forming the dramatic canon and demonstrate the possibility of a new theater, one separate from the masculine that is evolving through the dialogue that they create.

In addition to being an actress and author of prose and poetry, Cristina Escofet is one of the more renowned Argentine playwrights of the last decade. Her works have been performed throughout Argentina as well as New York, Washington D.C, Montevideo, Havana and Puerto Rico. Her first production was the play Te de tias which debuted in Teatro Abierto in 1985. Other works include Solas en la madriguera (1988), Nunca usaras medias de seda (1989), Ritos del corazon (1992), Senoritas en concierto (1993), Las que aman hasta morir o Los fantasmas del heroe (2000). These works along with her work in the critical theory of the genre have won various awards in Argentina.

Escofet's theater balances an emphasis on the importance of the visual with that of dialogue. As my analysis will show, the recurring theme in these plays is feminine identity.