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In the crowded world of theatre, breaking through as a new voice can feel impossible, especially for women, trans, and nonbinary artists who have historically been underrepresented. But SheNYC Arts has made it their mission to flip that script, championing gender equity and giving a platform to creators who might otherwise be overlooked. Co-founder Danielle DeMatteo is at the helm of this effort, driving change in real time, one festival at a time. Every year, the organization hosts theatre festivals in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta—presenting new work from artists whose voices have not been heard yet in the American theatre.
DeMatteo, speaking amidst the whirlwind of festival season, reflects on SheNYC's ever-growing impact. “We’ve just wrapped our festivals in LA, New York, and Atlanta,” she says. “It honestly feels like every single day, we’re having an impact on people’s lives.”
For DeMatteo, the most rewarding part of her work isn’t just the productions, it’s the way SheNYC inspires those involved to see themselves in new ways. She’s watched actors in the festival transform into playwrights, sparked by the confidence SheNYC gives them to take creative risks. “We’ve had actors finish the festival saying, ‘I’m going to try to write a play,’ because they never saw it as an opportunity before,” she explains. This empowerment is at the core of SheNYC’s mission—to create space for new voices in an industry still heavily dominated by established norms.
One of the most remarkable stories DeMatteo shares is of a costume design professor, who wrote her first play during the pandemic. “Who knew this woman was a genius playwright?” DeMatteo says, with palpable excitement. After decades in the more traditionally female-dominated role of costume designer, the professor took a leap and submitted her work to SheNYC. Now, her play is being adapted into a screenplay, a move that underscores the organization's commitment to helping creators navigate the different avenues of storytelling.
But the power of SheNYC isn’t just in the stories being told—it’s in who gets to hear them. For DeMatteo, one of the festival’s most important functions is connecting local stories with local audiences. In Atlanta, for example, a play used the rivalry between Pepsi and Coke as a metaphor for gender identity—an inside joke that resonated uniquely with the Atlanta audience, given Coca-Cola’s hometown dominance. “As a New Yorker, I didn’t get it,” DeMatteo admits, “but people in the audience were dying with laughter.”
These hyper-local connections are essential, DeMatteo believes, as mainstream theatre increasingly comes from New York and is then filtered out to regional theatres across the country. “We’ve lost the concept of homegrown theatre,” she says, lamenting how local voices can be drowned out by the noise of Broadway. “I love seeing shows that matter deeply to the communities they’re performed in.”
Looking ahead, SheNYC has ambitious plans to expand beyond theatre into film and television—industries that often offer more financial stability for writers. “We want people to be able to jump between forms of media,” says DeMatteo, emphasizing the importance of helping theatre writers build sustainable careers. With over 500 script submissions this year, many from outside the U.S., the demand for SheNYC’s mission is undeniable. And while expanding to new cities is on the horizon, the focus for now is on helping creators make the leap into film and TV.
Since its inception, SheNYC Arts has become an essential platform for emerging voices, particularly those often overlooked in mainstream theater. When asked to name the most rewarding outcome of her work, DeMatteo pauses—it’s hard to pick just one. One standout moment for her was the Off-Broadway run of two SheNYC alumni shows, both written by Black women playwrights, that had been delayed for three years due to the pandemic. “It became the most beautiful, wonderful experience I could’ve imagined,” she says, still glowing with pride. The shows, which dealt with Black female intersectional experiences in America, one set in World War II and the other in the present day, were performed side by side. For DeMatteo, the friendships that formed between the playwrights were as rewarding as the productions themselves.
As SheNYC continues to push the boundaries of what theatre can do, DeMatteo’s message is clear: “If anyone feels inspired to write something, go ahead and do it. And if anyone feels inspired to get involved, we always want more people to join our She family.”
Inspired was created by Situation Project 501(c)3.
