Three musicals will be selected to receive financial support and development opportunities.
The Sappho Project has launched a new musical theatre development prize, The W*rk Lab, specifically for emerging women and trans or gender non-conforming book writers, composers, and lyricists. Three musicals will be selected for a seven-month development workshop that includes a $1,500 project stipend and a $500 prize.
The program aims to provide resources and visibility for the next generation of underrepresented musical theatre creators and position them for future success. In addition to a personalized plan for each project’s development, artists will be given full access to masterclasses, group feedback sessions, and a grants and residencies resource databases.
For the first five months, artists will work via Zoom or FaceTime. Workshops will then be held in April 2021, either virtually or in-person, depending on health and safety guidelines at the time.
Applications are open August 7 at TheSapphoProject.com. Artists of all ethnicities and ages, as well as artists with any accessibility needs, are encouraged to apply. All submitted pitches and proposals will be reviewed with the help of a volunteer reader group, and non-selected participants who meet all submission requirements will be offered a Zoom meeting to receive development feedback.
14 Playwrights/Directors Tell Us Why Women’s Contributions to Theatre Are Vital
14 Playwrights/Directors Tell Us Why Women’s Contributions to Theatre Are Vital
The 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival runs January 15–February 15, with programming at 24 theatres in Washington, D.C.
14 PHOTOS
Julia Cho: “The most necessary, most vital theatre is one that reflects every part of the human experience. I can’t imagine theatre without the contribution of women—can anyone?”
Theresa Rebeck: “Well, because we're half the human race.”
Dominique Morrisseau: “In a climate where #metoos are revealing a major lack of empathy around the abuses against women, the antidote is more stories by women. On the brink of major social change, women's voices must be at the forefront.”
Mary Kathryn Nagle: “There’s a reason domestic violence and sexual assault against women run rampant in the United States. Women’s voices have been silenced. Women make up half the population but only 22 percent of the plays produced on stage tell our stories. We will never see an America with less violence until or unless women’s voices are properly placed on the American stage.”
Annalisa Dias: “Women are people. Women-identified people are over half the population and some ridiculous proportion of theatre-going audiences. A festival that centers our work ideally will begin to shift the needle toward not only a more just theatre, but a more just society.”
Moira Buffini: “A theatre without women’s voices doesn’t tell the true story of society. It doesn’t reflect our experience as people. It is skewed, out of balance and far less interesting. It seems obvious, when women buy more than half the tickets, that we are letting them down if we only show male-centric work. The phrase ‘female gaze’ still feels new, which is astonishing. It’s simply the world from our point of view. Theatre allows men to experience what that is like.”
Timberlake Wertenbaker: “Theatre is a kind of recounting of history, whether past or present, and needs the forensic eloquence of women. In ancient Greece, women were responsible for public mourning and retelling the details of the lives of their community, that is, their history. I think this led women to a culture of looking at history’s complexity, and away from the oversimplified narratives used by those in power to keep power.”
Caleen Sinnette Jennings: “As much as I believe that men and women are equal, I also believe (and acknowledge the paradox) that women and men are substantively and profoundly different. From my personal experiences as a woman, wife, mother, artist, and educator, women listen, communicate, analyze, and problem solve differently than men. So… what can women in theatre teach the world? A whole heck of a lot!”
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.”
By Dan Meyer, Ryan McPhee, Marc J. Franklin | 01/14/2021
Playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists have joined a letter campaign advocating for the creation of a Department of the Arts and substantial COVID-19 relief for artists.
In his State of the State address, Cuomo announced his initiative to bolster an economic and cultural sector effectively shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Plus: Watch the new trailers for Hulu's The United States vs. Billie Holiday (penned by Suzan Lori-Parks) and Season 2 of Snowpiercer (starring Daveed Diggs and Lena Hall).
