NEW YORK CITY: International Centre for Women Playwrights has recognized 58 theatres in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, U.K., Singapore, and Tasmania with their 2017 50/50 Applause Awards, given to theatre that have produced 50 percent or more plays by women playwrights this year.
Criteria for the award include having three or more productions in a season and having 50 percent of the full-length plays having been written by women.
Many companies that received the 2017 award have previously received this honor. HERE Arts Center in New York City has received the award for a fifth year in a row, and U.S. companies Off the Wall Productions in Carnegie, Pa., and the Latino Theatre Company in Los Angeles for a fourth year.
A 2015 study conducted by the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) showed that women playwrights were only produced 28-36 percent of the time. Since then, various initiatives have developed to promote female playwrights such as the Kilroys, the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative, and “The Count” funded by the Lilly Awards, which celebrated the work of women in American theatre, and the Dramatists Guild of America.
“Until there is positive action, the world’s theatre stages will continue to promote the male imagination and female voices will remain unheard, to the detriment of the wider society,” said 50/50 Awards co-chair Patricia L. Morin in a statement. The International Centre recommends that theatres looking to perform more plays by contemporary female playwrights look at Kilroys List, the 49 List, the New Play Exchange, and TreePress for more information.
The 50/50 Applause Award Recipients for the 2017 season include:
Alberta Theatre Projects
Arena Stage
Arts Club Theatre
Aurora Theatre Company
Borderlands Theater
Book It Rep Theatre
Cadence Theatre Company (in partnership with Virginia Rep)
Carousel Theatre for Young People
Center Stage
Central Works
Checkpoint Theatre
City Theatre Company
Company One Theatre
Curious Theatre Company
Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre
Entity Theatre
Globe Theatre
Great Canadian Theatre Company
Guthrie Theater
HERE Arts Center
History Theatre
Imago Theatre
Key City Public Theatre
Know Theatre of Cincinnati
Latino Theater Company
Manhattan Theatre Club
Marin Theatre Company
Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company
Northlight Theatre
Off the Wall Productions
Open Stage of Harrisburg
Pacific Theatre
Plan-B Theatre Company
PlayMakers Repertory Company
Playwrights Horizons
Prairie Theatre Exchange
Public Theatre
Rep Stage (Howard Community College)
Round House Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Company
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Signature Theatre
South Coast Rep
State Theatre Company of South Australia
Storycrafter Studio
Tasmanian Theatre
Teatro Paraguas
The Belfry Theatre
The Bread & Roses Theatre
The Kingfisher Theater
Theater Alliance
Theatre Passe Muraille
University of Nebraska Omaha Theatre
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Theatre Co.
Victory Gardens Theater
Windy City Playhouse
Yale Repertory Theatre
The International Center for Women Playwrights was founded in 1988 to promote the work of female playwrights worldwide.
