MT/Acting Gender Gaps

[Jkellynh17]

I was just looking at Chicago auditions and found this theater, which may be of interest to young actresses and their mothers. http://www.twentypercentchicago.com/

[MomCares]

I should be very clear that my frustration is not my D’s. She is happily out there living her life. I am just seeing all of this from the perspective of an older feminist feeling discouraged at how little the theatre world has changed over the years.

[toowonderful]

@momcares - I totally get it. For me, it’s not the number of female roles, but things like the fact that barely 20% of of congressional representatives (20 in senate and 84 in house) are women, or only 26 are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. The arts are only one part of the problem…

[MomCares]

Interesting, @jkellynh17 - but this is even sadder than the 30% number I’d heard…

In 2002, a three-year study by the New York Council on the Arts revealed that only 20% of working professional theatre artists that year were women, only 16% of plays produced were written by women and only 17% of plays were directed by women…

[MomCares]

The arts are only one part of the problem…

@toowonderful - Absolutely, but theatre is where both my D and I chose to begin our young working lives so it’s an industry of special interest and importance to me.

[Jkellynh17]

I think the arts are getting better faster than other areas of human endeavor. I can name 10 famous actresses of film and theater, but I’d have a hard time coming up with 10 finance execs or 10 tech entrepreneurs. I’m also seeing a lot of calls (in Chicago) for actors of color. (I have a white male son, so I do notice these things.)

[MomCares]

I can name 10 famous actresses of film and theater, but I’d have a hard time coming up with 10 finance execs or 10 tech entrepreneurs.

I bet the same was true 50 years ago. Even back then directors needed (20%) females to play the…

Wives
Mothers
Witches
Mean girls/ Bullies
Supportive girlfriends
Beauty Queens
Girls forced into arranged marriages
Spoiled rich girls
Cheerleaders
Girls who exploit men
Princesses
Singers
Girls who are raped
Strippers
Girls who are victims of incest
Hot librarians
Girls who get pregnant out of wedlock
Movie stars
Airheads and ditzes
Slutty girls

[toowonderful]

Way more than 50 years ago Shakespeare HAD female characters… They just weren’t played by girls ;

[TheaterHiringCo]

Classics have to be disregarded in this argument, in a way, simply because they were written at a time without many/any female actors.

Current plays are slowly working their way to be more diverse.

I could not be a bigger proponent for gender/racial/ethnic diversity in regional professional theatre, but there are so many mitigating factors. The largest of which, is what audiences will pay to see.

[mom4bwayboy]

Yep @TheaterHiringCo - what yearly season subscribers want to see and are willing to underwrite vs. what ‘student rush’ attendees want to see are very different animals. Even young professionals who are now used to pirating their entertainment for nothing seem unwilling to shell out for Art.

[MomCares]

This is cool. Hopefully some musicals are included!

In 2010, leaders of the Big Ten Theatre Consortium recognized an under-representation of women in theatre, both as playwrights and in the availability of substantial female roles, particularly those suitable for college-age actors. Uniquely positioned to address this need, the Big Ten Theatre chairs decided to commission, produce, and publicize three new works by female playwrights over a three-year period, with a secondary goal of creating strong age-appropriate roles for young women.

… snip…

The Big Ten Consortium includes University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Indiana, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/santa-barbara/article/SBCC-Theatre-Arts-Department-Presents-GOOD-KIDS-20151024

[MomCares]

I just saw that @fishbowlfreshman posted a relevant article on the Theatre forum so I’ll link it here as well.

Phil Willmott: What should we tell young actresses?
https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/2015/phil-willmott-tell-young-actresses/

Here’s some of his tough love…

There’s a lot of talent in the group but they’re from a smaller drama school, they’re not on a musical theatre course, they’re lovely but not stop-traffic beautiful, half of them can’t do RP (some have thick overseas accents) and, most fatally of all in regards to succeeding as actors, they’re women.

I know from decades of experience that they barely stand a chance of agents attending their showcase, let alone signing them up. Certainly, without influential friends and family, they’ve no chance of being signed by one of the few top agents who actually can build you a sustainable career.

So how frank to be? I was briefly a co-director of a major course at a major school and it used to worry me that we were cynically taking huge fees from kids we knew stood no chance of a career beyond a year of chorus work in touring musicals to be replaced a year later by the next wave of graduates who’d work for peanuts.

But he does end on a more optimistic note…

[Jkellynh17]

I don’t understand why they can’t do RP. That seems like something anybody could learn – and should learn – at a reputable drama school.

[MomCares]

@jkellynh17 - In reality I suspect RP will be the least of most actors’ worries.

[Jkellynh17]

Yes but easily fixable…as opposed to the way they look and gender inequity and so forth.

[austinmt]

RP?

[MomCares]

@austinmt - RP = Received Pronunciation = the “standard” British accent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

[austinmt]

Cool! I learned something today!

[claire74]

I wonder if Shakespeare had access to female actors, would he have written more

[actorparent]

This article was in the New York Post today. It’s about film, not theater, but still gives a bit of hope to our actor daughters! http://www.pressreader.com/usa/new-york-post/20151030/283162902461219/TextView