Eva Le Gallienne: A Biography

It's hard to imagine what the American theater community would have been like without the great Eva La Gallienne. Fortunately, I purchased the Shanke's book, "Shattered Lives: The Story of Eva La Gallienne" and received it a few days earlier. What disappointed me about that book was the fact it focused so much on Eva's sexual orientation from a homosexual male perspective. Of course, Eva's sexuality is only part of her. In Sheehy's book, the author spends a lot of time in explaining this wonderful actress' life without doting too much on her sexuality. Who cares if Eva perferred the company of women really. It didn't stop her from being a major figure in establishing theater in the country. She performed everywhere, Seattle, New York, Washington D.C. Chicago, etc. Sadly, she never found the love of her life in other women but her true love was theater. It was on the stage that she became superfigure of a woman who can do so much. She wrote books and translated Ibsen and Chekhov. She should never be forgotten as one of the groundbreakers in American theater. This book does not dwell too much on her sexuality which I recommend for that reason alone. Eva was a remarkable lady and a grand dame of the theater.

Not only do I feel that the author gave a clear and unbiased picture of Eva's life, but in the reading of this book, I was inspired as a theatre artisan myself. Eva is an important yet often overlooked historical figure, and I am recommending this book to all of my theatre friends. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.