Alice Gerstenberg

Chicago-born feminist and writer Alice Gerstenberg is most notable for her contributions to the Little Theatre movement. First developed in 1912, the Little Theatre was an intimate space for experimental drama, removed from commercialism and profit-centered theatrical models. Gerstenberg used her own life experiences and education to guide her involvement: Bryn Mawr College, living in New York City and attending the theatre, and feminist activism for her community.

Gerstenberg’s most famous play is the one-act Overtones, revolutionary for its use of a split subject to investigate a social conflict. Following her rising popularity as a playwright, Gesternberg founded the Junior League Children’s Theater and the Playwrights Theater, both in Chicago. Later, the Alice Gerstenberg Theatre and its Workshop became a mainstay of Chicago’s experimental theatre scene.

Overtones is her most-anthologized play, often published alongside other female playwrights of the era (such as Susan Glaspell or Sophie Treadwell) as an example of early twentieth-century feminist drama.