Women Playwrights Speak Out

press release: Madison-based women playwrights are joining together at 3 pm Sunday, January 21, at TAPIT/new works Studio Theater, 1957 Winnebago Street, to offer free readings of unproduced work in honor of International Women’s Voices Day and the first anniversary of the 2017 Women’s March.

International Women’s Voices Day, sponsored by the National New Play Network and the New Play Exchange, is part of the global pursuit for gender parity in theater. 

And it’s about time. A 2015 study conducted by the Dramatists Gild and the Lilly Awards found that only 22% of plays performed in the United States were written by women.

As the playwright Marsha Norman remarked, “If life worked like the theater four out of five things you had ever heard would have been said by a man.” 

To date, the Madison-based women stepping up to even the odds include Betty Diamond, Danielle Dresden, Susan Hering, Miranda Makepeace, Margaret Rosin, Donna Peckett, Karen Saari, Gail Sterkel, and Jan Levine Thal – and there may be more by show time!

The event, hosted by TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater and co-sponsored by Kathie Rasmussen Women's Theatre (Krass), will be free, fun, casual, and open to the public. Chocolaterian Café will provide cookies. Attendees will be invited to make a donation to DAIS (Domestic Abuse Intervention Services). 

Pussy hats are not required, but bringing a dessert to pass is always welcome. Contact TAPIT/new works Ensemble Theater, info@tapitnewworks.org or 608.244.2938 for more information.