 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|||||
 |
|
||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1993 I began developing solo performances of famous American women writers from the late 19th to the middle 20th centuries. The performances are interactive events, ending with the audience engaging the subject of the performance in a question and answer dialogue. the performances are accompanied by workshops, in which the community learns more about the work, life, and milieu of each subject. I have performed Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), Edith Wharton (1862-1937), and Victoria Woodhull (1938-1927) for various audiences in universities, art museums, humanities council-sponsored events, theatres, and Chautauqua presentations. In recent years, I have incorporated my journey as a fiction writer into the story of these women. PERFORMANCE
DESCRIPTIONS |
|
| Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, and The Fool's Journey
|
Gertrude
Stein as Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), was one of the most innovative writers and thinkers of the twentieth century. A graduate of Radcliffe, and a favorite pupil of psychologist William James, Stein moved to Paris in 1903 and became a fixture in Left Bank bohemian society. Her "salon" on Saturday nights became a regular stopping place for American writers and artists. At 27 rue de Fleurus, they could meet the most current figures in the arts, discuss new trends, and of course see Stein's famous collection of cubist and modernist paintings. |
Edith
Wharton: Inside the House of Fiction One of the
most gifted and influential novelists in American literature, Edith Wharton (1862-1937), was born into one of old New York's most established
families. Wharton overcame a background that focused on wealth and manners,
to become an artist. Raising her for a suitable marriage and a life in society,
Wharton's family did not provide her with a tutor or any formal education,
and did not even think to supply her with paper upon which to write. Self-educated
and determined, Wharton broke away from "society" to discover
her intellectual and creative gifts. The monologue includes quotations from several
of her fictional works and attempts to feature Wharton as she might speak
to audiences in contemporary times. The second part of the presentation
is question-and-answer. Audiences first question "Mrs. Wharton"
on her life, work, and opinions, and then have an opportunity to direct
questions to Lynn Miller as a scholar of Edith Wharton. |
Victoria Woodhull: The First Woman Victoria C. Woodhull (1838-1927) was the first woman to run for President in the United States (in 1872), the first woman to publicly address the U.S. Congress, and the first woman broker on Wall Street. Woodhull was a charismatic and polarizing figure. Her views on marriage and the importance of passion and free love for women, alongside the boldness of her ambition, in time alienated suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who later wrote her out of their history of American suffrage. |
| You can contact me at lynn(at)lynncmiller(dot)com | |
I combine
personal narrative, performance, and scenes from my novel, The Fool’s
Journey in this performance, which traces my creative journey as a writer and performer. Featuring excerpts from my Stein and Wharton performances and the essay "Saved By Gertrude Stein," I explore the intersection of identity and art.