Claudia Allen grew up in Michigan, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Michigan. However, she has spent most of her adult life in Chicago, where she has been a playwright since 1979. She’s had over twenty of her plays produced in various theatres across the country, nine of them at Victory Gardens Theatre, where she currently serves as Playwright-in-Residence. Her work, centered on the lesbian experience, has garnered numerous awards and nominations, including two Joseph Jefferson awards. Chicago Magazine named her “Best Playwright” in 1999.

Hannah Free, Allen’s most frequently produced play, premiered in 1992 at Bailiwick Repertory in Chicago. It features two recurring themes in the Allen canon: the celebration of love after the prime of life, and the vulnerability of elderly lesbians in a system that doesn’t recognize their rights. Allen says she likes to write older characters because they’re not seen often enough onstage, and because the full lives they’ve led brings depth to the stories that feature them.

Another idea important in Hannah Free that recurs often in Allen’s work is the relationship between love and courage. Rachel and Hannah’s relationship demonstrates the pain caused by the closet’s hiding and pretending, and their small town setting highlights the power and dignity of their ultimate choice.

Of all of her many characters, Allen is most often compared to Hannah--a comparison she laughingly suggests may have to do with her being a “cantankerous survivor.” Allen teaches writing at Victory Gardens and at several Chicago universities, has had a collection of her plays published in an anthology by Third Side Press, and has two new plays receiving premieres in Chicago this spring.

This essay was compiled from the following sources: On Writing: An Interview by Paul Holler in the e-magazine, Critique (unfortunately no longer online); Bailiwick Repertory Theatre's WebSite's article on Allen's play, Dutch Love; and She’s Always Liked the Girls Best: Lesbian Plays. by Claudia Allen, Chicago: Third Side Press, 1993.

[February 2004]

Return to ECHO READS... History