William+McKinley

__Sources to Consult__: - Academic Search Premier 1) Debling, Heather. "'How Will They Ever Heal...?' Bearing Witness to Abuse and the Importance of Female Community in Sarah Daniels' //'Beside Herself,' 'Head-Rot Holiday,' and 'The Madness of Esme and Shaz.'" Modern Drama//. 51, no. 2 (Summer 2008): 259-273.

The full article was not available through Academic Search Premier, but I did find it in the Project Muse database. The article immediately made it clear the Daniels' plays generally revolve around feminist themes, with her 1980's plays focusing on the injustices of a man-made world and her 1990's plays focusing on how women joined together to face the forces opposing them (female solidarity). In addition, the article argues that Daniels uses the medium of theater because it allows her female characters to tell their story to a large audience; "a means of publicly bearing witness" (260). One of her most common themes is abuse and how women are rarely granted the opportunity to achieve closure in these situations. She also notes that self-abuse is common in Daniels' plays and that the female characters are often at their self-destructive worse when they are alone. Bebling references three other plays written by Daniels: "Head-Rot Holiday," "The Madness of Esme and Shaz," and "Beside Herself."

2) Bartlett, Carina. "Sarah Daniels' Hysteria Plays: Re-presentations of Madness in Ripen Our Darkness and Head-Rot Holiday." //Modern Drama//. 46, no. 2 (Summer 2003): 241-260.

Only the abstract was available, but it emphasizes the theme of madness (specifically among women) in Sarah Daniels' plays. Like the article mentioned above, Bartlett seems to draw a link between the disadvantageous social circumstances and perceived madness among women (Debling had argued that what was sometimes perceived as madness was actually simply unhappiness).

- JSTOR

1) Aston, Elaine. "Daniels in the Lion's Den: Sarah Daniels and the British Backlash." //Theatre Journal//. 47, no. 3 (Oct. 1995): 393-403.

This article begins by providing a bit of background on British lesbian, feminist playwright Sarah Daniels, particularly emphasizing the fact that reviews of her play are often strongly affected by the gender of the reviewer with women often praising her work and men criticizing it. Her work has been called the "venom-spitting virago of radical feminist theatre," and she has been referred to as "man-hating," "savage," and "wrathful," but she has also been called a "a spirited, anarchically funny, angry young writer." She has won two major awards: "Most Promising Playwright" award, and the George Devine Award for "Neaptide." Her plays have been published in the //Methuem World Classics// series. The main theme of all her plays is the use and abuse of power by men against women (also including child abuse).

Gut Girls was first staged in 1988 at the South East London venue the Albany Empire, Deptford.

Other plays by Daniels that are referenced in this article include "Neaptide" (debuted at the National Theatre's Cottesloe in 1986), "Beside Herself" (mainhouse stage at the Royal Court in 1990), "Head-Rot Holiday" (first performed by female ex-prisoners in 1992), "The Madness of Esme and Shaz (1994 at the Theatre Upstairs in the Royal Court), "Masterpieces" (1983 in Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre), "The Devil's Gateway," and "Byrthrite" (1986) Most of these plays were first performed in alternative venues, not in mainstream playhouses and many have been the victim of a right-wing press that is sharply critical of this type of play.

Google Scholar

1) Haedicke, Susan C. "Doing the Dirty Work: Gendered Versions of Working Class Women in Sarah Daniel's "Gut Girls" and Israel Horovitz's "North Shore Fish." //Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism// (Sping 1994): 77-88.

This article is the first I've come across that focuses specifically on the play "Gut Girls" and it immediately establishes a link between the gut girls' independence and the slaughter houses where they work. When the slaughter house is closed, the unique community of women that it had held together is broken and with it their independence as they are forced into more traditional roles. It also provides a basic outline of the characters which include individualistic working women, a masculine boss (Harry), a weak but well-paid male assistant (Jim), and a woman who allies herself with the male powers in the play (Helena).

Daniels uses multiple voices to portray the circumstances of the time, thus revealing multiple sides of the issues.

At the beginning of the play the gut girls, though oppressed and working in horrid conditions, are strong, independent and happy about it, but this independence poses a threat to the status quo and must be quelled. "The play dramatizes the process whereby independent women, considered by the rest of society to be social outcasts, misfits unable to perform in traditional forms of wife, mother, or mistress, are tamed and thus made socially acceptable or marketable..." (83). By portraying this removal of independence, Daniels challenges her audience, particularly the women in it, to take action so that they might avoid the fate of the play's characters.

2) Griffin, Gabrielle. "Violence, abuse, and gender relations in the plays of Sarah Daniels." //The Cambridge Companion to modern British women playwrights//. Eds. Elaine Aston, Janelle G. Reinelt: 194-210.

This article makes it clear that "the abuse of and violence against women is central to the plays of Sarah Daniels" (194), a theme which has earned her persistent criticism from male critics. Specifically she plays on the theme of a wife trapped in an abusive heterosexual marriage (Eady, Maggie's mother) and of female bonding in the face of adversity (the Gut Girls themselves are an example of this). Another trait of Daniel's work is her unsatisfactory endings; these rarely involve the male perpetrators being punished for their crimes and instead focus on the continued suffering of the female characters.

Among her influences is Andrea Dworkin (an American radical feminist activist- both have been labeled as man-hating). Her work is preceded by that of fellow British women playwrights Pam Gems, Caryl Churchill, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Louise Page, and April de Angelis.

Wikipedia

1) Deptford & Convoy's Wharf Articles

These articles cast some useful light on the setting of Sarah Daniel's "The Gut Girls," the Deptford Dockyards. Formerly a center of naval trade, exploration, and military endeavors, the dockyards were in decline by the turn of the 19th century as larger ships were unable to navigate the Thames River. The City of London Corporation's Foreign Cattle Market took up residence in the area beginning in 1871, but this too began to fade around 1910 (from 234,000 to under 40,000) and it is in this environment that Sarah Daniel's play is set. This provides an economic explanation for why the gut girls are eventually laid off and must search for other forms of employment or husbands who will support them.

Since the time period of the play, the area was used as a supply depot during the World Wars, but has not experienced any significant development since. An interesting point of note is that the gutting sheds that are described in Sarah Daniel's play actually hosted a performance of the play from June 20- July 8, 2002, when a theater company received permission to perform on the site. The author of a linked article described the play as follows: "...to be recommended although it is not for vegetarians" (David and Olwen Perrett).