ARTEMISIA THEATRE PREMIERES JAKI MCCARRICK’S AWARD-WINNING “BELFAST GIRLS” MAY 16

Artemisia, a Chicago theatre that produces women-driven plays, will

present the American Premiere of Belfast Girls, by award-winning Irish writer Jaki McCarrick

Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Sunday at 6:00 pm, with an additional matinee on Saturdays at 3:00 pm.

Preceding its American premiere are non-stop accolades for Belfast Girls from overseas.  McCarrick has been long listed for the Irish Laureate Award and shortlisted for the 2014 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Belfast Girls also received a well-regarded staged reading by Artemisia in Chicago last year, which set the tone for this highly-anticipated premiere.

In Belfast Girls, Jaki McCarrick dramatizes Irish history.  On the cusp of a great societal revolution, five street women orphaned by the Irish Famine embark on a journey of love, betrayal and adventure, hopeful they will find a fresh start in a new land.  The five “Belfast Girls” are dramatized based on the real-life women who sought passage in 1850 aboard the Inchinnan, a ship bound for Australia.

McCarrick is currently in negotiations to adapt the play for film and has recently been long listed for the Irish Laureate Award.   “I am thrilled that Belfast Girls is premiering in Chicago, a city whose appetite for cutting-edge stories is legendary,” says McCarrick.  “And Artemisia’s vision of bringing female-driven plays to the fore makes it even an even greater compliment.  I’m so looking forward to being in Chicago for the opening weekend.” 

“This is a terrific story, one that reflects the Irish immigrant experience so deeply rooted in Chicago.  It’s an amazing adventure that is packed with non-stop action, great characters and shattering discoveries,” says Julie Proudfoot, Artemisia’s Artistic Director.

Tickets are now on sale on Artemisia’s website at http://www.artemisiatheatre.org/

Read More Production Details Here

Also

The latest on Jaki McCarrick and Belfast Girls!

On Jaki - 

http://www.writing.ie/news/the-big-idea/irish-playwrights-going-transatlantic/

Interview on Windy City Irish Radio - 

(TORONTO, ON – April 22, 2015) Equity in Theatre (EIT) is pleased to announce the release of its recent research study, “Achieving Equity in Canadian Theatre: A Report with Best Practice Recommendations,” by Dr. Michelle MacArthur.

Equity in Theatre is a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder initiative designed to help redress and rectify existent gender inequities in the theatre industry.

As a first step, EIT engaged Dr. Michelle MacArthur to generate a preparatory research study, the purpose of which is two-fold:

1. to provide an update on the current status of women in Canadian theatre; and,
2.  to analyze past equity initiatives and related follow-up actions at home and abroad, in theatre and elsewhere, culminating in a series of “best practice” recommendations.
   

The idea with this is to ensure that we do not repeat past mistakes or waste time reinventing the wheel, but rather that we capitalize on successful gains and maximize our impact.

The report’s findings will serve as a foundational framework for EIT as it moves forward, for instance, informing the proceedings of the upcoming Symposium, and pointing the way toward possible future actions. It is our hope that the EIT report will serve as a source of inspiration, and act as a catalyst ­for change, for individuals and institutions, in the theatre sector and beyond.

Are you wondering how women fare in the current climate, and what can be done to help improve the situation? Check out the EIT report to find out! You can view the study in its entirety, or peruse a four-page Executive Summary with Study Highlights, by visiting the EIT website at: http://www.eit.playwrightsguild.ca/achieving-equity-canadian-theatre

With this report, and a new online presence, Equity in Theatre will continue to foster dialogue on an (inter)national scale, develop social actions that will help effect change, and generate greater awareness of and exposure to Canadian women in theatre. To find out more, visit the EIT website (www.eit.playwrightsguild.ca).

Our heartfelt thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation for making EIT and this report possible!

 

Attachments area Preview attachment EIT Research Report Press Release Apr 22 2015.pdf

The Dramatists Guild, USA, devoted a full page of the ir November 2014 issue to this year's ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards announcement.

The Awards are presented to professional theatres around the world which produce the works of women playwrights at least 50% of their season.

The 50% calculation covers number of productions and length of run.

You can download and read the Dramatists Guild Issue  at this link.

 http://www.dramatistsguild.com/media/DramatistMagazine/DramatistNov2014.pdf

The League of Professional Theatre Women in New York, USA are extending an invitation to a week of amazing events.

When: Saturday, October 25 - Monday, November 3

What: As part of the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award, honoring the 2014 awardee Patricia Ariza from Colombia, South America and celebrating the work of 20 other nominees from 18 additional countries around the globe.

Hosted by:
Joyce Maio/Sophia Romma, International Committee Chairs.

Melody Brooks/Gwynn MacDonald, Award Chairs.

Please note the schedule will be frequently updated check back before each event

All RSVP’s to mbkulick1@aol.com

Event Poster      Read more on the LPTW Website

The International Centre for Women Playwrights is thrilled to report the extraordinary level of international support that is represented by the recipients for this year’s 50/50 Applause Awards, which sets out to recognize theatres that produced 50% or more women playwrights in their season of shows.

 For the first time in the history of the awards, ICWP invited the public to nominate theatres that had produced the work of women playwrights throughout the world.

We are proud to announce 67 recipients from nine countries for the 2014 awards. The list includes theatres in Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States. 

The full list of theatres , plays and playwrights can be viewed here.

There are fourteen repeat recipients who have demonstrated gender parity in more than one season.  Meet some of the theaters in our multi-lingual video.

http://www.womenplaywrights.org/award-video

Julie Crosby, who had served as the producing artistic director of the Women's Project Theater, gave an exclusive interview to Playbill.com about the differing accounts of why she left the organization.

"My favorite line this year has been, 'Why don't you just produce hits?'" Julie Crosby said recalling a meeting with the board of the Women's Project Theater. "I thought that was one of the best questions I got this year from a board member.

"I really prefer the flops," she jokingly added. They're really just so much easier."

The board member's question referred to the lack of revenue brought in by productions put on by Women's Project Theater, a 36-year-old theatre dedicated to presenting works written and directed by women, of which Crosby had served as producing artistic director since 2006.

Read More on the Playbill.com website...

http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2013/07/cleveland_public_theatres_2013.html

Introducing THOSE WOMEN PRODUCTIONS

Posted on April 26, 2014

Director Elizabeth Vega and I have become a producing team: We are THOSE WOMEN PRODUCTIONS, and we make theatre for people who like questions more than answers.

Our first production will be Just Deserts, a comedy about justice and revenge, opening August 29 at the Metal Shop Theatre in Berkeley.  Here’s a little more about us:

MISSION

Those Women make theatre for people who love great stories and want to explore big questions.  Our plays are rooted in the stories that have made us who we areundefinedthe myths, tales and legends of western culture.  We approach these tales from new angles, giving the stage to hidden truths of gender and power and to the unheard voices of women.  We practice radical hospitalityundefinedeverybody is welcome regardless of their ability to pay.  We only ask that our audiences come to the theatre curious; we promise to leave them more curious still.

Read the full blog post here

Boston hosted an inspiring meeting that was live-streamed across the USA, delving into recent statistics, lived reality and hopes for the future of gender parity in theatre.

http://howlround.com/livestreaming-the-defining-gender-parity-town-hall-boston-stagesource-sat-april-26

WOMEN ARE FUNNY! The facts are in…

An international playwriting competition has delivered the verdict⎯Women are Funny.

Jacqueline Goldfinger & Jennifer MacMillan proved the point as the inaugural winners of a collaborative project between The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) and Playscripts Inc. Their one-act play for High School students, Enter Bogart, attracts a $1,000 prize, a year membership of ICWP, and publication of the playscript.

The competition was for women playwrights, a move that both organisations are making as one way to redress the gender balance in the world of theatre.  Playscripts received all the entries and ICWP judged the finalists with an international panel of judges.

Enter Bogart out-tickled two plays that received ‘honourable mentions’: What Not To Do At The Districts by Samara Siskind and Ella's Magic Garden by ICWP member Shirley King, who were the runners up in this years competition. Winner Jacqueline, is a co-founder of The Foundry, which is an organization that supports the development of emerging playwrights. Jennifer is a professional actor, director, and theater educator. Enter Bogart is the first play that she's written.

The competition forges a positive relationship between Playscripts, Inc and ICWP as both have a mission to make available new plays with diverse voices.

Press release