Allison Janney, two-time Tony Award-nominated star of Broadway’s 9 to 5 and the revival of Six Degrees of Separation, has been named honorary chair of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival, planned to run January 15 to February 15, 2018, with programming at 26 theatres in Washington, D.C.
The festival will offer world, national, and regional premieres of plays written by women, including Theresa Rebeck, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Wendy Graf, Julia Cho, Danai Gurira, and Dominique Morisseau. Titles planned for the festival are in the process of being announced at WomensVoicesTheaterFestival.org.
Janney previously served on the Festival’s Honorary Committee in 2015. Currently starring on the CBS series Mom, Janney won four Emmy Awards and four SAG Awards for her portrayal of White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg on The West Wing. Her movie career has included The Girl on the Train, Spy, The Help, American Beauty, and the upcoming I, Tonya, in which she plays the mother of ice skater Tonya Harding.
Janney says, “I was humbled that the organizers of the inaugural Women’s Voices Theater Festival invited me to join the initial Honorary Committee and I’m happy to lend my support again. Theater nurtured my career—it’s where I came into my own as an actor, and of course, Washington is a very special place for me, because of my time on The West Wing. I’m very glad to be a part of this project, and proud to be helping the Festival advocate for women writing for the stage, new plays, and the sharing of diverse stories.”
Theaters producing work for the 2018 Festival include Alliance for New Music-Theatre, Ally Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Brave Spirits Theatre, Convergence Theatre, dog & pony dc, Folger Theatre, Ford's Theatre, 4615 Theatre Company, Mosaic Theater Company, Nu Sass Productions, Olney Theatre Center, Pointless Theatre Co., Rainbow Theatre Project, Rapid Lemon Productions, Rep Stage, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Spooky Action Theater, Studio Theatre, Taffety Punk Theatre Company, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
The Festival is produced by Nan Barnett of Flanagan Theater Projects, with support from theatreWashington, led by President Amy Austin.
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