Scene Library

The scene library is a compilation of scenes from historic plays by women to be used exclusively by acting instructors and students.

Special thanks to Maria-Christina Oliveras and Jacqueline Knapp for their time and commitment. 

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(2 W, one is a child) Crystal talks to her lover on the phone in the bath when she is confronted by her young stepdaughter, who reveals the truth about where Crystal stands in the family.
 

About the Playwright

Clare Boothe
Clare Boothe
Ann Clare Boothe was born on March 10, 1903 in New York City to a former dancer and a violinist.  Years later--following in her parents’ artistic footsteps--she would become a world renowned playwright and author as well as a famed journalist, politician, diplomat, and women’s rights activist, one of the most iconic women and figures of the 20th century. As a child, she attended numerous schools and then briefly a theatre school for children.  She married millionaire George Tuttle Brokaw in 192…
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(2 W, one is a child) Little Mary climbs into bed with her mother and accidentally reveals the truth about her father's unhappy marriage. 
 

About the Playwright

Clare Boothe
Clare Boothe
Ann Clare Boothe was born on March 10, 1903 in New York City to a former dancer and a violinist.  Years later--following in her parents’ artistic footsteps--she would become a world renowned playwright and author as well as a famed journalist, politician, diplomat, and women’s rights activist, one of the most iconic women and figures of the 20th century. As a child, she attended numerous schools and then briefly a theatre school for children.  She married millionaire George Tuttle Brokaw in 192…
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(2W) Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale contemplate why Mrs. Wright may have killed her husband. 
 

About the Playwright

Susan Glaspell
Susan Glaspell
Susan Keating Glaspell (1876-1948) Born July 1, 1876, in Davenport, Iowa, Susan Glaspell published news articles and short stories even before entering Drake University, from which she received a degree in philosophy. Over the course of her career, she wrote more than fifty short stories, nine novels, fourteen plays, and a biography of her husband, George Cram (Jig) Cook. It is difficult to imagine the Provincetown Players (1916-1922) without Glaspell, a founding member who acted as well as w…
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Wiletta and Henry commiserate about feeling rage as a part of one's social identity and Wiletta decides definitively to pursue being an actress. 
 

About the Playwright

Alice Childress
Alice Childress
Alice Childress (1912-1994) was an actress, novelist, and playwright. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, she moved to Harlem at age five, where she was raised by her grandmother. Alice’s grandmother encouraged her love of writing, and Alice found inspiration in her family’s stories as well as the lives of the people around her. In particular, the stories she heard at weekly church events inspired her to focus on the lives of urban African-Americans. Alice developed a passion for theatre and at…
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Wiletta, a theater actress, gives a few pointers to John, a newcomer to New York, as they wait to go in for an audition with a white director. 
 

About the Playwright

Alice Childress
Alice Childress
Alice Childress (1912-1994) was an actress, novelist, and playwright. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, she moved to Harlem at age five, where she was raised by her grandmother. Alice’s grandmother encouraged her love of writing, and Alice found inspiration in her family’s stories as well as the lives of the people around her. In particular, the stories she heard at weekly church events inspired her to focus on the lives of urban African-Americans. Alice developed a passion for theatre and at…
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