The Bechdel Test

A friend posted this on Facebook the other day.

I understand that it's a cinematic tool, but I couldn't help but wonder: how well does contemporary theatre hold up against the Bechdel test?  In some ways, it's a difficult test to impose.  There are a lot more one-woman plays than one-woman films, after all.   Still, an interesting lens for looking at the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, and Ibsen, all of whom have female leads...but what kind of females are they?

I think contemporary theatre has more luck passing the test.  How many contemporary plays can you think of that pass the test?  Here are a few, off the top of my head:

• Unity (1918) by Kevin Kerr


• Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor


• The Attic, the Pearls, and Three Fine Girls and More Fine Girls


• This is For You, Anna by The Anna Project


• Proof by David Auburn


• Doubt by John Patrick Shanley (sort of...they talk about the priest a lot)


• Wit by Margaret Edson


• Les Belles Soeurs by Michel Tremblay


• Albertine in Five Times by Michel Tremblay


• The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway


• Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout by Tomson Highway


• Perfect Pie by Judith Thompson

Can you add to the list?

Comments

[Col]

Thinking through this Calgary season of shows...

Communion - Daniel Macivor (ATP)
Rebecca - Clifford Williams (Vertigo)
Austentatious - Joe Slabe (Forte)
The Pain Diaries - Deborah Nicholson
Tyland - Greb Macarthur (ATP)
Camera Woman - RM Vaughan (UCT)
Scorched - Wajdi Mouwad (Sage)
In The Wake - Downstage Creation Ensemble
The Invisble Girl - Michele Riml (Quest)
Glorious - Peter Quilter (Stage West)
Blood Relations - Sharon Pollock (Vertigo)

and

I Claudia
Shape of a Girl
Pack of Lies
Away
Yajayjay Monologues
Blind Date
Were all really strong one-woman shows in town this year

[Sylvia]

Also, the University did Albertine in Five Times this season and will do Perfect Pie in the next season

[Sylvia]

Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
'Little Women' (Calgary Opera)

[AylaBean]

Does the third test point, "do they talk about anything other than a man?", also count towards a females characters sons, fathers, and employers/employees? Or just men as sexual/relationship partners?

I would argue Rebecca and Blind Date don't pass the test. The two female characters in Rebecca talk a lot about Mr. de Winter, and the new Mrs. de Winter's roles in the household. And Blind Date is all about a woman looking for man.

[Jamie]

I'm not sure, Ayla, but I think it does include male family members. I think the logic behind this is that the male "subject" and female "object" is bigger than sexuality. In fact, that structure is linked very strongly to domestic relationships. Interestingly, if you apply the reverse test (two male characters who talk about something other than women), the question about whether sisters or mothers count is almost irrelevant. There aren't a lot of movies or plays in which male characters have those discussions. Male characters talk about different things, it seems. Like ideas.