Gender

Lily Janiak discusses the world premiere of Stuart Eugene Bousel's adaptation of Rat Girl, a memior by Kristin Hersh, lead singer of Throwing Muses.

As a former fellow-traveler, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale than the summiteers, all of this got me thinking: For the twenty two years of Theater of the First Amendment’s producing life as the resident professional company of George Mason University, how did we do?

Sheryl Sandberg, author of "Lean In", has just launched a campaign to "Ban Bossy," so that girls who used to be called bossy start to be told instead that they are leaders. Efforts like this to change the culture, though, are long-game solutions to an immediate problem. In the meantime, how do women directors, especially those just starting out, balance the competing demands of actually leading with gendered expectations as to what constitutes good leadership?

Jess K. Smith calls for a “revolution of language” and a revolution is necessary. However, the revolution is not about language, it’s about creating a world built on respect, understanding, and bringing to an end a system of domination and submission. What budding female directors are doing when their words betray their confidence is allowing themselves to be thought of as submissive.

Director Jess K. Smith investigates women directors' use of language in theatre and calls for a revolution of women's use of language that is not apologetic, dominating, or rooted in fear.

Dani Snyder-Young looks at the world premiere of Joel Drake Johnson’s Rasheeda Speaking, and reflects on seeing a play about race, with a mostly white audience. 

Holly L. Derr argues against the traditional idea of a "pipeline" of plays flowing from New York to other places in the country.

By showing that Othello has similar content to her poetry, and Emilia bears multiple resemblances to Amelia Bassano herself, "Writing Othello" makes the case that the "dark lady" had a hand in crafting this play. It translates academic research into practical performance on stage.

Alice Stanley reflects on Binary Theatre Company's production of Jester's Cap, by Daniel Pennyway and making theatre that contains feminism and same-sex love for a possibly-conservative audience.

Lauren Gunderson offers advice on dealing with threatending situations at talkbacks, and how theaters can better protect their artists during audience engagement.

Patricia Davis reviews Taffety Punks' production of the unproducable: a humorous interpretation of Titus Andronicus, presented by the all-female Riot Grrrls.

The Donmar Warehouse's all-female production of Julius Caesar encloses the story into a women’s prison to bring to light contemporary commentary on freedom and betrayal.

Holly L. Derr writes about different all-female productions of Shakespeare's plays and how this opens up further opportunities for discussion about gender, relationships, and the timelessness of the stories.

Daniel Jones examines the critical reception of Rapture, Blister, Burn, and invites us to look more closely about how the gender of the critic effects the fate of the new play.

Time for action. This Weekly Howl focuses on concrete ideas and practices for achieving Gender Parity in the theatre.

Rachel Grossman of dog & pony dc writes about her experience as a female artistic director, and the problematic side effects of working in a post-feminist art form while still grappling with pre-feminist issues.

Heather Kitchen offers reflective insight on gender parity and shares examples on how it has affected her career.

Lauren Gunderson writes about the failings of theatre to be a lens for society, and the inability to properly represent real life without the voices of women.

Lauren Gunderson interviews playwright Lydia Diamond about feeling forced to choose a piece of her marginalized self to construct her stories.

Julia Jordan writes about the push for gender parity in theater, and how demanding change is vital to fixing theater's woman problem.

With the community advocating for better gender parity, Theatre Bay Area has made a commitment to furthering the discussion about gender bias and how to take action.