Kaplan, Ellen W.

Dr. Ellen W. Kaplan is Associate Professor of Acting and Directing at Smith College, A Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, Fulbright Artist-in-Residence in Hong Kong; and an actress and director who has performed internationally and across the U.S. Her plays have been performed in Europe and the U.S. She produced video documentaries, including Mixed Blessings, about Jews and Roma in Eastern Europe, and a CD-ROM about Juan Rulfo. She also works with at-risk adolescents to create spoken work drama for radio.

Images of Mental Illness Through Text and Performance

2005 0-7734-6125-6
Theoretical inquiry into the representation of mental illness on stage has not kept pace with theatre scholarship relating to images of marginalized populations as presented on stage, nor with developments in current thinking about mental disease. This collection examines the dynamics of characterization and the problematics of representation within the context of new trends in pharmacology and reconfigured definitions of mental disease, at a time when unprecedented attention is being given to the complex realities of living with mental disorders.