The 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival runs January 15–February 15, 2018, with programming at 24 theatres in Washington, D.C. The festival presents new work by female playwrights to cast a spotlight from the nation’s capitol on gender parity in American theatre and the valuable works of female artists.
The festival offers world, national, and regional premieres of plays written by women, including Theresa Rebeck, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Wendy Graf, Julia Cho, Danai Gurira, and Dominique Morisseau.
In honor of the festival, 14 of the participating playwrights and directors responded to the prompt, “Why are women’s contributions to theatre vital?”
Flip through the gallery below to read their responses:
Julia Cho
Theresa Rebeck
Dominique Morisseau
Mary Kathryn Nagle
Annalisa Dias
Moira Buffini
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Caleen Sinnette Jennings
Saviana Stanescu: “The fact that we need to ask this question in 2018 is an answer in itself... Women's voices have been silenced and ignored for centuries in our shared HIStory. Women's stories and perspectives need to be heard, valued, and cherished because they represent a significant part of who we are as artists, global citizens, people, HUMANS.”
Natsu Onoda Power: “Because we live in a world where a question like this would even come up.”
Charlie Marie McGrath: “Women’s contributions to theatre are vital because women are vital, and—at 51 percent of the population—the majority. For a few weeks, this festival realizes a world in which this statistic becomes institutionalized—a transformed world where female-identifying leaders are the norm, not the exception; where people don’t refer to me as a ‘female director’ but a ‘director’; where the national dialogue is composed of a more diverse range of voices and ideas.”
Laura Schellhardt: “Over half the population of the United States is female or female identifying. At least half of the world's population is female or female identifying. The numbers alone answer the question "why are women's contributions to the theatre vital?" They're vital for the same reason that men's contributions are vital—because our individual threads of experience comprise more than half the world's tapestry.”
Audrey Cefaly: “Women carry wounds and scars only known to them. Their struggles are monumental and their wisdom layered and deep. The world is in a lot of pain and so it is important to understand how nurturers see the world. We should invite their intricate stories of the joy and suffering that connect us all.”
Heather Raffo
