Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley, who made her Broadway debut in the 2016 revival of Thérèse Raquin, returns to the screen in Colette, the new biopic about pioneering French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.
Known to Broadway fans as the writer of the 1944 novella that inspired the Lerner and Loewe musical Gigi, Colette’s own life has also been a source of inspiration for theatre writers—including the 1970 Off-Broadway musical Colette Collage written by Fantasticks writers Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones.
First published under her husband’s nom-de-plume, Colette caused a sensation at the turn of the century with her Claudine novels, a coming of age literary series about an independent, sexually liberated French girl. The semi-autobiographical novels revolutionized literature, and Colette’s battle to take ownership of her work solidified her place as a formative voice in women’s writing.
To mark Colette’s September 21 theatrical release, we take a look at 8 female writers who blazed a trail on Broadway.
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