Frontenac House and The Glasgow Women’s Library Discuss Equity in Theatre
ARE WE THERE YET?
A transatlantic discussion on Equity in Theatre
Featuring Frontenac House and The Glasgow Women’s Library
live-streamed between Glasgow and Calgary
July 7, 2016, at 11:30 am, Calgary time
at the Doolittle Studio, University of Calgary, Craigie Hall
To celebrate the publication of Aphra by Nancy Jo Cullen, Alexandria Patience and Rose Scollard, Frontenac House in collaboration with The Glasgow Women’s Library is presenting a live-streamed discussion on Equity in Theatre. Join us at this free event on Thursday, July 7 at 11:30 am Calgary time at the Doolittle Studio at the University of Calgary School of Fine Arts.
April Viczko, the new head of Drama at the University of Calgary, will open the event with a welcoming speech.
The Glasgow Women’s Library will present a panel of speakers including Christine Hamilton, Alison Peebles and perhaps Anna Birch on equity in theatre. Alexandria Patience will be the moderator.
The Calgary audience will respond with comments and questions moderated by Rose Scollard. Calgary participants will include Michele Decottignies of the Calgary Congress for Equity and Diversity in the Arts, Sharon Stevens, artist and activist and April Viczko head of U of C Drama.
Equity in Theatre
Maenad Productions, Western Canada’s first woman-centred theatre, was formed by Cullen, Patience and Scollard in 1986 precisely because there were so few opportunities in theatre for women. As Rina Fraticelli reported in Women in Theatre a few years before, between 1977 and 1981 only 10 percent of produced playwrights in Canada were women. In its 15 years of operation Maenad provided countless opportunities for women as playwrights, directors, actors and other working roles.
In 2016 things have improved for women in theatre, but the most recent “PGC Annual Theatre Production Survey, 2015/16” found that 64% of the nation's staged productions were written by men, 26% by women, and 11% by mixed-gender partnerships. Of course, it is not just women who are under-represented in theatre and we expect the discussion to extend to other marginalized groups, including people of colour, Aboriginal people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ.
In Canada, there are several organizations dedicated to equity in theatre. The Equity in Theatre section of the Playwrights Guild of Canada (http://eit.playwrightsguild.
In Calgary, The Calgary Congress for Equity and Diversity in the Arts (http://www.calgaryartsequity.
ABOUT THE PLAY, APHRA
Aphra Behn had travelled to the Americas, spied for King Charles the Second and spent time in debtors’ prison all by the age of 30. In 1670, the production of her play The Forced Marriage launched her as a playwright and the first English woman writer to earn a living solely through her pen. For this, the society of her day banished her and her work to oblivion. Her voice was effectively silenced for over 300 years. Few people knew she had ever existed.
APHRA is an interpretive picture intended to spur interest in her life and works.
Historical fantasy drama – 3F 2 Act (90 mins
Aphra Drama, 92 pages, Release date March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-927823-45-3 paperback, $18.95, ISBN: 978-1-927823-46-0 pdf, $9.95, ISBN: 978-1-927823-47-7 HTML, $9.95, https://www.
ABOUT GLASGOW WOMEN’S LIBRARY
Glasgow Women’s Library is a vibrant information hub housing a lending library, archive collections and contemporary and historical artefacts relating to women’s lives, histories and achievements.
ABOUT FRONTENAC HOUSE
Frontenac House is a dynamic publishing house based in Calgary, Alberta. Since the launch in 2000, they have published a wide variety of titles in categories like poetry, aviation, political satire, fiction, art and photography. Frontenac is best known for an annual Quartet of poetry books which launch in September.
ABOUT DRAMA AT THE SCHOOL OF CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS
Drama at the School of Creative and Performing Arts is an exciting place for theatre. For almost fifty years, hundreds of young artists have been challenged, nurtured and inspired in a climate of creative engagement and study. At the very heart of the theatre experience exists the process of exploration. Theatre unlocks and examines those things, large and small, which test, tease, provoke, outrage, raise eyebrows, raise blood pressure and invoke a sense of wonder.
Within the framework of this dynamic of investigation, Drama encourages students to collaborate, challenge themselves and grow. Our program offers an integrated blend of intellectual rigor and artistic practice that provides students with a profound cross-disciplinary experience.
Additional Resources Scotland
Alexandria Patience http://alexpatience.
Christine Hamilton http://
Alison Peebles http://www.imdb.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
Anna Birch https://www.rcs.ac.uk/
Additional Resources Canada
Rose Scollard http://rosescollard.com
Playwrights Guild of Canada http://eit.playwrightsguild.
The Calgary Congress for Equity and Diversity in the Arts http://www.calgaryartsequity.
For further information, contact Lyn Cadence at 403.465.2345 or lyn@frontenachouse.com
Additional Resources Canada
Rose Scollard http://rosescollard.
Playwrights Guild of Canada http://eit.
The Calgary Congress for Equity and Diversity in the Arts http://www.
Please pass along this information to everyone who might be interested.
For further information, contact Lyn Cadence, 403.465.2345, lyn@cadencepr.ca