
Holy Terrors: Latin American Women Perform
Diana Taylor
The performance pieces in Holy Terrors are powerful testimonies to the artists' political and personal struggles. These women confront patriarchy, racism, and repressive government regimes and challenge brutality and corruption through a variety of artistic genres. Several have formed theatre collectives—among them FOMMA (a Mayan women’s theatre company in Chiapas) and El Teatro de la máscara in Colombia. Some draw from cabaret and ‘frivolous’ theatre traditions to create intense and humorous performances that challenge church and state. Engaging in self-mutilation and abandoning traditional dress, others use their bodies as the platforms on which to stage their defiant critiques of injustice. Holy Terrors is a unique English-language presentation of some of Latin America's fiercest, most provocative art.
Contributors
Sabina Berman
Tania Bruguera
Petrona de la Cruz Cruz
Diamela Eltit
Griselda Gambaro
Astrid Hadad
Teresa Hernández
Rosa Luisa Márquez
Teresa Ralli
Diana Raznovich
Jesusa Rodríguez
Denise Stoklos
Katia Tirado
Ema Villanueva
Product Details
About Diana Taylor
Reviews for Holy Terrors: Latin American Women Perform
Patricia Ybarra
Theater
“[A]n imaginary Latin America that might otherwise go unnoticed outside of the region has been made available for the first time to English-speaking readers. . . . A key accomplishment of this collection is its capacity to bring together, within the utopian space of the printed page, women from different social, ethnic, and class backgrounds, giving voice to their experience as it emerges in the most contrasting settings. . . . As an ultimate political act, the editors of Holy Terrors have sought to bridge the gap between artist and critic, thus positioning the artists’ work as an open field in which women circulate, not only as commodities, but also as agents of change.”
Rita De Grandis
Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
“[T]he book signals new departures in the field of theatrical and performance criticism. . . .”
Beatriz J. Rizk
Latin American Research Review
“For anyone interested in theatre and performance art—and most particularly in women’s theatre—in Latin America, this will be a fascinating collection.”
British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America
“For the reader who wants a broad overview of women performing in Latin America, Holy Terrors provides a sampling of some of Latin America’s most important playwrights and performers, as well as some new voices.”
Alexandra Fitts
Bulletin of Spanish Studies
"[A] crazy quilt account of women performing theater in Latin America. . . . Holy Terrors is a work rich in ideas, history and personalities, and an important source book for learning, not only about theater in these eight Latin American countries, but also about key political issues, the risks of free expression, and the health and nearly unchartable diversity of the women's movement."
Martha Gies
Women's Review of Books