Skip to content

The Artificial Woman

A new musical by Steve Gunderson and Amy Gerstler

  • Home
  • Artist Biographies
  • Readings & Performances
  • Journal
  • Press
  • Contact

The Artificial Woman is historical fiction based on the tempestuous, nearly three year relationship between Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka and composer Alma Mahler. Their break up inspired the obsessed Kokoschka to commission artist Hermine Moos to create a life-sized Alma “doll”. Alma’s daughter Anna (from Alma’s marriage to composer Gustav Mahler) is in the shadow of her headstrong and competitive mother when a child. Then Oskar comes into her and her mother’s lives, and he becomes an inspirational catalyst for Anna, as through the years we see her complicated relationship with her mother shift. The play imagines the doll’s subsequent brief entanglement with Oskar and its aftermath, raising questions relating to gender roles, art making, obsession and objectification, the Pygmalion myth, women as “muses”, and the often vexing nexus of love and art.

The Artificial Woman Workshop 2021

Flyer for UC Santa Cruz virtual workshop performance of "The Artificial Woman"

Workshop Announcement

A quarter-long (Spring 2021) developmental workshopping of The Artificial Woman at University of California, Santa Cruz, with participation by the creators of the musical (Steve Gunderson and…

Continue reading → Workshop Announcement

Steve Gunderson

Steve Gunderson (music/book), a 2016 Creative Catalyst Award winner for The Artificial Woman, is an actor, singer, composer, arranger, and playwright. Born and raised in…

Continue reading → Steve Gunderson

Amy Gerstler

Known for its wit and complexity, Amy Gerstler‘s poetry deals with themes such as redemption, suffering, and survival. Author of over a dozen poetry collections,…

Continue reading → Amy Gerstler

Casting Announcement for “The Artificial Woman” October 9 Reading

“The Artificial Woman” is excited to announce two additional cast members for the upcoming reading on October 9 in San Diego. MELINDA GILB will play Hermine…

Continue reading → Casting Announcement for “The Artificial Woman” October 9 Reading

Excerpts from January 2017 Reading of “The Artificial Woman”

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: TheFour Lite by GretaThemes.
  • Home
  • Artist Biographies
  • Readings & Performances
  • Journal
  • Press
  • Contact