Shirley You Must Be Kidding

In Elizabethan England, women were not allowed to be actors. Pre-teen boys were apprenticed in theatres and trained into women's roles.

So be it. Though the canon holds few roles for women, those written are delicious.


And now, on television, there is a renaissance of women characters for actresses to get their teeth into. I'm thinking of Glenn Close in "Damages," Edie Falco in "Nurse Jackie," Khandi Alexander in "Treme" and Elizabeth Moss in "Mad Men."

I'm particularly fond of "Mad Men" because it opened the discussion of women during a time far too many folks like to call the good old days.

I'm a woman, and you couldn't pay me to return to those days. They may be old, but there were not good.

"Mad Men" begins in the early sixties and leaps forward smack-dab into the women's movement. From the onset, the viewer is delivered stomach-turning realities of how women were regarded in both home and workplace.


As a woman watching the show, my rage builds as Elizabeth Moss' character, Peggy, begins her slow burn.

"Mad Men" is a hit. Such a hit that Banana Republic has launched a "Mad Men"-inspired clothing line. Such a hit that other networks are unveiling their own 1960s series.

It's the good old days all over again and my wrath is starting to bubble.


I have not seen "Pan Am" or "The Playboy Club," but I will blow my top if these series are overflowing with romantic notions of the "Coffee, Tea or Me?" days of yore.


Women, get ready. We're entering a world of pointy bras, empty laps and spilled martinis all over again. And it ain't going to be pretty.

CHILDREN'S WRITES: A Journal Entry

I wanted to be in the Shakespeare club because I really like to act and I want to be an actor when I grow up. I also want to be in Shakespeare is because this is my chance to learn about things that happened along time ago.

—Kamili, 5th grade