Welcome to Equity in Theatre

EIT Hackathon

#EquityHack

Celebrate International Women’s Day by Hacking the Internet

WHAT
Join Equity in Theatre (EIT) March 6th-12th, 2017 for our third annual Equity Hackathon!

A hackathon is an event where a group of people come together to ‘hack’ the internet. Celebrate International Women’s Day by hacking the internet with others, or on your own! Help increase women’s visibility in the arts by adding posts about Canadian women artists to online wiki pages.


Participants will be gathering across the country during the week of International Women's Day at the locations listed below.

Can't make it in person? No problem: participate from your own home, following the instructions linked below, and let us know how it's going by tweeting #EquityHack!

WHERE & WHEN


CALGARY: Wednesday, March 8th, 6:00-10:00 pm MST
Host: Handsome Alice Theatre

1701 - 26 Ave SE, Calgary, AB


EDMONTON: Wednesday, March 8th, 1:00-4:00 pm MST

Host: Maggie Tree

11516 103 Street NW, Edmonton, AB


FREDERICTON: Date & Time TBA

Host: Theatre New Brunswick

31 - 55 Whiting Road, Fredericton, NB


OTTAWA: Saturday, March 11th, 12:00-3:00 pm EST

Host: Great Canadian Theatre Company

1233 Wellington St W, Ottawa, ON


REGINA: Thursday, March 9th, 11:00 am-5:00 pm CST

Host: University of Regina: Organized by Prof. Megan Smith
https://www.uregina.ca/events/2017-art-feminism-wikipedia-edit-a-thon

RC 040, MAP Maker Space, Regina, SK


SASKATOON: Wednesday, March 8th, 1:00-4:00pm CST

Host: Persephone Theatre & Thigh High Theatre

Location: 100 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon, SK


ST. JOHN'S: Thursday, March 9th, 1:00-4:00 pm NST

Host: Women's Work Festival

St. John's International Women's Film Festival Offices,
28 Cochrane Street, St. John’s, NL


TORONTO: Sunday, March 12th, 1:00-4:00 pm EST

Host: Playwrights Guild of Canada and EIT

350 - 401 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON


VANCOUVER: Wednesday, March 8th, 5:30-8:30 pm PST

Host: Playwrights Theatre Centre

202- 739 Gore Ave, Vancouver, BC

 

WINNIPEG: Friday, March 10th, 3:00-5:00 pm CST

Host: Theatre Projects Manitoba

Forth: 171 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg, MB

HOW

  1. If you are attending a live event, bring your own laptop computer, Ipad, or mobile device for “hacking” the Internet.


  1. Visit Performancewiki.ca (Canadian), Wikipedia.org (American), or any other wiki page or site of your choosing.
     

  2. Search your favourite Canadian women designers, playwrights, performers, directors, choreographers, dramaturgs, and so forth. → Is there a listing for them on the page? Is it lacking pertinent information? Is it out of date? Is it lack-lustre?
     

  3. Update the information or add a new page by following the directions found at these links:

  1. Last step: Share your contributions! Post on Facebook and Twitter using #EquityHack

 

 

General Tips


DO:

  • Be sure to cite all information by referencing where you have gathered information from (especially if you are posting on Wikipedia). Information on proper citation procedures can be found here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/22/;

  • Aim to add one (maybe two or three) pages online. These contributions take time and effort. It’s about quality, not quantity!

  • Add artists and theatre practitioners you know and are familiar with;

  • Let us know what you have contributed and how you have made a difference with #EquityHack;

  • Spread the word;

  • Contact us with any inquiries you might have.


DON’T:

  • Don’t copy and paste information from one site to another without directly quoting the source (place quotation marks around the text and cite where the information came from!);

  • Don’t add entries quickly that are only one to two sentences long. Again, quality over quantity!

  • Don’t create your own wikipage: have a friend do it for you!

Resources

Interested in participating, but not sure where to start? You can dig out your old theatre programs and posters, or reference articles, books, and reviews. The following is a list of online databases and women’s theatre companies that might be of interest for the creation of online posts.


Member Listings and Other Databases:



Women’s Theatre Companies and Festivals:

  • Athena Theatre Company, Crapaud, PEI

  • B Current (Rock Paper Sistahz Festival), Toronto, ON

  • FemFest (Sarasvati Productions), Winnipeg, MB

  • Full Figure Theatre, Vancouver, BC

  • Gailey Road Productions, Toronto, ON

  • Half the Sky, Hamilton, ON

  • Handsome Alice, Calgary, AB

  • HomeFirst, Halifax, NS

  • Hysteria Festival, Toronto, ON

  • Imago Theatre, Montreal, QC

  • Insatiable Sisters, Toronto, ON

  • Maggie Tree, Edmonton, AB

  • Matadanze, Toronto, ON

  • Nightwood Theatre, Toronto, ON

  • Ruby Slippers, Vancouver, BC

  • Sarasvati Productions, Winnipeg, MB

  • Shameless Hussy Productions, Vancouver, BC

  • SkirtsaFire Festival, Edmonton, AB

  • Three Sisters, Ottawa, ON

  • Tomorrow’s Eve Theatre, Toronto, ON

  • Wet Ink Collective Society, Vancouver , BC

  • White Rooster Theatre, St. John’s, ND

  • Windsor Feminist Theatre, Windsor, ON

  • Women’s Theatre and Creativity Centre, Halifax, NS

  • Working Women’s Festival, St. John’s, ND

WHY

International Women’s Day (March 8th) is a day to celebrate women’s achievements throughout the world, while simultaneously recognizing and challenging the systemic barriers women encounter trying to accomplish their goals and obtain or maintain leadership roles.


A quick online search of Canadian women in theatre demonstrates their lack of recognition in the virtual world. Fewer pages means less easily accessible information, less notoriety, and less available research, which can affect support, resources, and funding. Emerging artists especially face challenges gaining visibility, and have more difficulty locating and tracing a history of strong and accomplished women in the Canadian performance industry, making it hard to find a sense of belonging, not to mention mentors and roles models.


More online pages means more readily accessed information, a stronger virtual presence, and increased visibility. Gender inequity in the arts is not a result of women producing less or inferior work. On the contrary, diverse women are continually creating dynamic, exciting, and innovative works of art, but with fewer resources, their work often remains invisible. We can help to change this by ensuring their creative contributions get the notoriety, press, and visibility they deserve!


Keep calm and hack on!