One of the joys of being a provider of editorial and publishing services is the opportunity to work on terrific books that I enjoy reading, and which I know a great many readers will also enjoy. As a longtime fan of biography, I’m especially pleased that I get to work on so many excellent life stories, like Emily Mann: Rebel Artist of the American Theater by Alexis Greene, finished copies of which just arrived in my office today, good timing in view of the book’s November 1st publication date.

As I wrote when I sold the book to Applause Theater and Cinema Books earlier this year:

“This will be the first book about Mann, a trailblazing woman playwright and stage director, artistic director of the McCarter Theatre in Princeton from 1993-2020. It chronicles the story of Mann’s path through a field where women have often struggled for the opportunity to direct the work of other playwrights, leave alone see their own plays produced.

Greene chronicles Mann’s role in the growth of a socially-oriented theater with plays she’s written that explore current events and issues while focusing on the lives of under-recognized groups in society, in scripts virtually ripped from the headlines and braided together from archives, diaries, public records, and interviews conducted with participants in momentous events. Dubbed a “theater of testimony” Mann has written such plays as “Execution of Justice,” on the murder of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone in San Francisco; “Greensboro (A Requiem),” on a deadly 1979 KKK attack; “Mrs. Packard,” based on the true story of a 19th century minister’s wife committed to an asylum when she abandoned the church; “Having Our Say,” based on the bestselling book of the same title, on the centenarian African American sisters Sadie and Bessie Delany; and “Gloria: A Life,” drawn from the life and career of Gloria Steinem. Her development of a kind of new documentary theater has been influential in many ways.

A New York City native, Alexis Greene is the author and editor of numerous books about theater, including The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway, written with Julie Taymor, and the biography Lucille Lortel: The Queen of Off Broadway. Her career spans acting, theater criticism, and teaching (she holds a PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York).”

It’s the first biography of the pathbreaking director and playwright, known best for her “Theater of Testimony,” documentary-style plays drawn from public documents and oral histories. If you’re a theater-goer, and enjoy inspiring life stories, I heartily recommend Emily Mann: Rebel Artist of the American Theater.