Staus of Women in Theatre Debate at Hysteria

[Rebecca Burton]

Hello

FYI: an event that may be of interest to people in the Toronto area next weekend.

Cheers,

Rebecca

 
For Immediate Release

                                                                                                                        October 13, 2004

The Status of Women in Theatre: A Public Debate!

The Official Launch of the National Committee on the 
Status of Women in Canadian Theatre
 

Toronto, ON- In 1982 Rina Fraticelli published her report on the Status of Women in Canadian Theatre exposing the inequities on the nation's stages. Over twenty years later Toronto's Nightwood Theatre and the Women's Caucus of the Playwright's Guild of Canada are re-opening the report, unsatisfied with the stagnant numbers being revealed by recent polls of gender inequity in Canadian Theatre.           

Statistics are showing that the majority of students graduating from professional training programs are women and yet only 18% of the country's Artistic Directors are women; only 17 % of plays produced professionally in 2003/2004 were written by women, and only 21% had female directors.  These stunning results, 20 years after the original report, show only minor percentile increases to the Fraticelli findings. This new initiative thus launches an official investigation into Canadian Theatre in order to ensure that women's equal participation is finally realized.  

To support this project Nightwood's Artistic Director, Kelly Thornton and Hope McIntyre, Chair, Women's Caucus of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, have assembled a national advisory made up of some of Canada's brightest theatre practitioners and academics. Now this brilliant team of women will converge in Toronto for a three-day mini conference November 12-14, 2004. The public component, taking place on November 13 is sure to stir up many fiery opinions on the topic. Taking place as part of the 2004 Hysteria Festival, The Status of Women in Theatre: A Public Debate! will be held with members of the national committee taking positions on some of the toughest questions surrounding this issue:  Should affirmative action be enforced to ensure equal representation?  Is "good art" a gendered question?  Should Government granting bodies mandate the issue of gender as they have with the issue of cultural diversity? 

Please join us on November 13, 2004 at 2pm at Tallulah's Cabaret for this provocative DEBATE hosted by Elvira Kurt. Since last year's original panel discussion at Hysteria on the Status of Women in Theatre similar panels and roundtables have cropped up across the country (PACT, Magnetic North, LMDA Mini-Conference on Dramaturgy), all grappling with the issues of inequity and under-representation. Now the national committee gathers to begin the task of asking, how do we ultimately change the system for good?  Committee members joining McIntyre and Thornton in Toronto for this bold event include Jackie Maxwell, Jan Selman, Louise Forsyth, Yvette Nolan, Naomi Campbell, Nancy Webster, Judith Rudakoff, Diane Roberts, Jessica Schneider, Cynthia Grant, Kate Weiss, Aida Jordao, and core researcher Rebecca Burton (other committee members unable to attend include Susan Bennett, Denyse Lynde and Maria Campbell).

The Status of Women in Canadian Theatre: A Public Debate!
Saturday, November 13, 2004, 2pm
Tallulah's Cabaret, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
As part of Hysteria: a Festival of Women, presented by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre 
in association with Nightwood Theatre, running November 4-13, 2004
Free Admission, for reservations call Box Office at 416 975 8555

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Media Contact: Erica Kopyto, Assistant to the Chairs of the National Advisory on The Status of Women in Canadian Theatre at erica at nightwoodtheatre.net or call 416 944 1740, x 7.

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