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Kathleen Betsko Yale Biography (1939-)

Born Kathleen Yale, May 6, 1939, in Coventry, England; daughter of George (afactory worker) and May (a bus conductress; maiden name, Langford) Yale; married Stephen Betsko, 1959 (divorced, 1967); married Robert Saunders, 1969 (divorced, 1973); children: Candy May, Stephen Glenn. Addresses: AGENT--Jonathan Sand, Writers and Artists Agency Inc., 162 W. 56th Street, New York, NY 10019.

Yale told CTFT, "I look forward to the time when women playwrights no longerhave to work twice as hard and be twice as good for half the praise and only10% of the grant monies accorded male writers. I look forward, with hope, tothe time when women are free to speak the unvarnished truth on stage, not just of their own experiences as mothers, workers, daughters, wives, lovers, andartists, but also of the experiences of dispossessed men, women, and children everywhere whose suffering is ignored and whose voices are silent. When women stop modifying their words in order to spare men's feelings (or for fear of public humiliation at pens of the reviewers), the theater will be rocked toits foundations by the reverberations. Far from destroying the theatre, thisupheaval will revitalize it, will allow meaning and feeling to surge back tothe stage. The way can then be paved for a more honest camaraderie with men,will create deeper possibilities for compassion and love between the sexes,between nations, rather than--as is now the case--endless overt and covert battles caused by fear of intimacy and the struggle for absolute power."

Nationality

English

Gender

Female

Birth Details

May 6, 1939

Coventry, England

Famous Works

• Credits
• STAGE DEBUT--Meg, The Birthday Party, University of New Hampshire, 1973.
• NEW YORK DEBUT--Nurse, Equus, Plymouth, 1976.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL STAGE APPEARANCES
• Mrs. Pearce, My Fair Lady, Chateau Deville Dinner Theatre, circuit, 1975.
• Mother, Ring Round the Moon, Gramercy Park Theatre, NY, 1975.
• Flora, A Slight Ache, Manhattan Theatre Club, 1976.
• Helen, A Taste of Honey, NY, 1977.
• Credits; MAJOR TOURS
• Nurse, Equus, national tour, 1976-77.
• Also author of unproduced plays Evacuee; The Hanging of Ruth Blay; Starlings; In a Similar Vein.
• Credits; TELEPLAYS
• Daisy's Gang.
• Bad Guy (with Rosalyn Drexler).
• Credits; BOOKS
• Interviews with Contemporary Women Playwrights, William Morrow, 1986.
• Writings;PLAYS
• Beggar's Choice, staged reading, Herbert Berghof Studios, 1977; O'Neill Theatre Center Playwright's Conference, 1978.
• "Earplay," National Public Radio, 1980; Australian Public Radio, 1983.
• Johnny Bull, reading, Herbert Berghof Studios, 1980; O'Neill Theatre Center Playwrights Conference, 1981; reading, Long Wharf Theatre, 1981; produced,Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA, 1981; produced, Yale Repertory Company, 1982; published by Dramatists Play Service, 1985.
• Stitchers and Starlight Talkers, staged reading, Ensemble Studio Theatre,1981; O'Neill Theatre Center, Playwrights Conference, 1982; readings, Forumof Italian-American Playwrights, 1983; Matrix Theatre, NY, 1983; Playmakers Repertory Company, NC, 1983; Circle Repertory Company, NY, 1983.