The title of this post is a quote from a blog entry by Augusta Supple, playwright, director, producer, carpenter, performer, dramaturge, stage manager and musician based in Australia, that discusses the plight of ‘the invisible workers’, aka women in Australian theatre:

http://augustasupple.com/2010/01/the-invisible-workers/

The blog is from the perspective of Australia, but, as we in the theatre know, resonates everywhere. Ms. Supple mentions the outcry from the public when a company in Australia lauched a season with a lone women in a line-up of men. I imagine we all have a similar story from theatres near us….

Marsha Norman wrote a great article in the November 2009 issue of American Theatre called ‘What will it take to achieve equality for women in theatre‘. This is the first paragraph:

“Discussing the status of women in the theatre feels a little like debating global warming. I mean, why are we still having this discussion? According to a report issued seven years ago by the New York State Council on the Arts, 83 percent of produced plays are written by men—a statistic that, by all indications, remains unchanged. Nobody doubts that the North Pole is melting, either—we see it on the news. These are both looming disasters produced by lazy behavior that nobody bothered to stop. End of discussion. What we have to do in both cases is commit to change before it is too late.”

Read the rest of it at: http://www.tcg.org/publications/at/nov09/women.cfm. It is well worth the read.

So is this ‘commitment to change’ happening? For global warming or for women in the theatre?

In many cases, the answer, happily, is yes. It’s true that the battle is far from over on either front, but the ‘army’ is ploughing ahead and why not promote the success stories?

For example, Nightwood theatre in Toronto launched the 4X4 festival to promote women directors. Read a blog entry about it here:

http://www.artandculturemaven.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

A paragraph from that entry:

“A national study called Equity in Canadian Theatre: The Women’s Initiative, launched by Nightwood with the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada in 2004-2005 confirmed the suspicion that the result of largely male artistic direction led to significantly fewer female playwrights or directors enjoying the same level of employment in Canadian Theatre as their male colleagues. Without training and opportunitites for women directors, the chances for advancement to positions like Artistic Director remain few and far between – the 4×4 Festival is part of Nightwood’s response.”

It is no surprise that this ‘army of articulate and accomplished women’ exists. What is lovely is that they, like all the inspiring stories in Nicolas Cristof and Sheryl Wudunn’s book ‘Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” are being proactive. They are turning their ‘oppression’ into ‘opportunity’.

There are so many organizations out there doing their version of the 4×4 Festival. I’d love to have comments added sharing other success stories of how people, artists, organizations and theatre’s have shown a ‘commitment to change’ through programs put in place to promote women in theatre.

Success breeds success. Promote the success stories and more will follow…….

Written by Kristen van Ginhoven, Co-Artistic Director of WAM Theatre. www.kristenvanginhoven.com