HowlRound: HowlRound readers and social media revolutionaries may remember an event that occurred in our nation’s capital in February 2014 that became quickly known as the Summit. Convened by Washington Post critic Peter Marks around the issue of gender inequity in theatre, a panel of metro-area artistic directors discussed their collectively abysmal records at producing plays by women. As the discussion proceeded, more than one panel member was called out on social media for the tepidness of his/her approach.
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Jami Brandli brings up an excellent point in her quote featured in the article.The downfall of so many of these women-centric events and conscious movements to diversify theatre is that they are collectively as moves to appease or mollify the women and minorities of the theatre world. One of the aspects of this particular festival that I think will make it so successful is the creators' awareness of the general public's proclivity to treat something like this a "moment", and their dedication to not only giving this push for diversity longevity, but a place of permanence in the theatre world. As was detailed in the article, the analysis of ticket sales and audience demographics will go a long way to informing theaters how to truly integrate these diversified perspectives into "everyday" theatre.
It is also nice to be able to have a little hometown pride. These are theaters I been seeing shows at for well over a decade now, and seeing the metro area theatre community target such an important topic is very gratifying.
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