Women Playwrights' Roundtable outcomes - 1 Nov 2011

Women Playwrights' Solutions Roundtable report released

taken from australianplays.org

There’s been controversy recently about a perceived imbalance between opportunities for male and female practitioners in Australian theatre. At the same time, there's also been a lot of energy around ways to address the issue and move forward.

The Women Playwrights Solutions Roundtable, jointly supported by the Australia Council’s Theatre and Major Performing Arts Boards, took place on Friday, 12 August 2011 at the Richard Wherrett Studio generously made available by Sydney Theatre Company.

It was a gathering of women playwrights, theatre programmers and other key stakeholders who set aside a day to consider the under-representation of women playwrights in Australian mainstage productions and contribute practical ideas for a sector-driven response to the problem.

In its larger context, the Roundtable was one of several recent Australia Council initiatives to promote the fair and equitable inclusion of women in the core creative processes of mainstage theatre companies, the other main components being the Women Director’s Forum in May 2010, commissioned research and development of a reporting tool and guiding principles for Council supported theatre companies.

These initiatives are nearing completion and will be considered in their entirety by the Major Performing Arts and Theatre Boards in coming weeks.

The Women Playwrights’ Solutions Roundtable was facilitated by Gail Cork, director of the Australian Script Centre and a commercial mediator. Her report documents the processes and people involved, the substance of the discussion and the outcomes.

For the report, check out Australian plays.org