We Are Not a Mirror: Theater Must Lead with Women’s Stories

HowlRound: Here’s the thing—theater should lead culture, not follow it. If the theater we are making today solely reflects society, then we’re failing it. We are not a mirror, we are a lens. We see what’s coming, we embody it, we catalyze it, and we make the better future happen because we tell its story first. Or we should. Unfortunately, with regard to women, their stories, and their valuable lives valued onstage, the American theater right now is a mirror, not a lens. We look backward (like mirrors do), we look at ourselves (like mirrors do), and we show the world as it is, not as it should be. That doesn’t sound like an urgent art form to me. That sounds safe. That sounds easy. That sounds boring.