Gender

Theatre artists Rachel Kauder Nalebuff and Deena Selenow discuss issues of accessibility regarding the pregnant body and the development of The Bumps, their collaboration about a play written for pregnant performers.

Moriah Flagler interviews Roxanne Schroeder-Arce about her process and recurring themes in her work.

Brian Sonia-Wallace considers the Jubilee initiative’s possible implications for artists and the field, and weighs the pros and cons.

In this first installment, C. Fischer starts their series, exploring the intersections of gender, drag performance, and acting.

Mya Kagan ponders the standards of submissions: the frequent lack of responses, the ethics of charging fees, and the pros and cons of submitting blindly.

Azure D. Osborne-Lee and Kestryl Cael Lowery recap the Trans Theatre Artists Convening that took place in December, 2015.

Mya Kagan explores the tradition of female writers using male or ambiguous pen names, and questions whether or not doing so is an empowering choice.

Playwright Donna Hoke discusses her play The Way It Is, which includes the rape of a male character, and the response she got from readers.

Mya Kagan reveals the first response to a script submitted under the name Max.

Mya Kagan continues her Submitting Like a Man series with this discussion of the logistics and emotional implications of creating a differently-gendered alter-ego.

Journalist Carey Purcell discusses her takeaways from December’s Percolating Gender Parity symposium, and how gender-based pay discrepancies affect women in theatre. 

Playwright Mya Kagan introduces her new blog series about her project Submitting Like a Man, in which she submits her plays to calls under a male pseudonym.

In this second installment, Matthew Minnicino discusses legendary women characters in ancient Greek theatre. 

Martha Steketee writes about ongoing data collection efforts to track gender disparities in theatre, and emphasizes the need for cooperation between people doing the work in different regions. 

Hailey Bachrach explores the subtle bias of audiences and directors toward female characters by surveying audiences following a performance with male and female actors trading roles.

Sophia Romma writes about the ideas for working toward gender parity that came out of the April 2015 Equity in Theatre Symposium in Toronto, Ontario.

Actor and teaching artist Valerie Weak discusses her experience freelancing and shares her strategies for promoting women theatre artists.

Director Christine Young advocates for casting more women in university theatre productions, ranging from the classics to contemporary work.

Citizen-artist Yvette Heyliger discusses the aftermath of her petition and advocates a call to action for gender parity legislation.

Executive Director of WomenArts, Martha Richards, calls for women and allies to collaborate on building a $10 million a year network of 100 women working full-time to achieve gender parity in the arts.

Patricia Davis on the world premiere production of Audrey Cefaly’s Maytag Virgin at Quotidien Theatre in Washington, DC.