THE INTERVAL: In March I wrote the feature 7 Women of Theatre History You Should Know, but as I researched those women I knew I would need to write another installment. The more I read about one woman in the theatre, another interesting, little-known woman would reveal herself. As in the first feature, these seven women represent a range of talents and areas of theatre. They have written, directed, and/or started theatre companies. They have worked in New York and across the country. Their work reflects their individual experiences and has influenced the theatre as we know it today.
5 comments:
I wish I had become more positive over the summer, but I guess I haven't. I always looking for the articles on women when I am looking through NFTRW, and even though I consistently comment on them, and I am happy that there are articles being written about women who have achieved a lot we aren't changing the environment that they are working in. The seven women in this article over came a lot of adversity, and were successful in spite of people who discriminated against them, or spoke down to them, and that really is impressive, but the reason that they fought so hard was so someone in my generation would be equal. This summer I worked on a production team of almost all women, and while it was great, the show got a lot of attention about the fact that it was all women. And I am so sick of hearing about how wonderful it is that a team is all women, because if the team had been all men no one would have given it a second thought. Equality means that my experience this summer isn't unique and that no one cares about it, because it happens all the time. I can appreciate the women in this article immensely, and admire them for the work that they did for me, but their work is not done, so it's my job to not be satisfied with just this article and to keep pushing for more.
“If a script ‘beeps’ to me, I do it. Audiences may hate these plays, but I believe in them. The only way I can explain my ‘beeps’ is that I’m no intellectual, but my instincts tell me automatically when a playwright has something.” –Ellen Stewart in a New York Times interview
I think as theatre artists we all have experienced this "beep," Though it may not always be as blatant as actual sound, the feeling we have towards our work and subject matter propel us to do the job we do. Unless one is actually connected to the piece they are doing, one is not having the level of quality and intrusion needed to have a good piece. Designing is not a job done for the completion of a task or the money, it is a lifestyle fueled by the ability to turn a beep into a meaning piece of art.
A book I recently read, "American Set Design" which analyzed the careers and styles of eleven American scenic designers active during the mid and late 20th century featured ten male designers and one female. As a potential scenic designer, it was disheartening. Already as I was buying my stagecraft tools before class I was asked in the hardware store if I knew what tool I was holding. And in the shop I interned at in the summer, I was told by another volunteer that if I wanted to be an artist, I would need an intelligent husband to provide for me. Sexism still exists in theatre, and reading about the work of other women in this article has been motivating and inspiring. I completely agree with the quote from Megan Terry that "If feminism is going to really move ahead, it’s got to explore the possibilities of what a woman could be. We don’t know what a woman could be like because we’ve had so many outlines and definitions forced on us." Hopefully female presence in production will no longer be a rarity, and hopefully these articles will no longer need to be written to remind us of the success of female professionals.
As a product of the Houston theatre district, I have known for a very long time that my taking this path would never had happened had it not been for the artists at the core of building the theatrical community which Houston boasts today. The Alley Theatre, in particular, is very important to me because of the relationship that it still holds with my high school theatre department and its history in my family's lives. Nina Vance was an incredible force in setting a precedent for the prestige of Houston's theatre district at a time when the city's artistic prowess was really taking shape. It is because of the community that she helped to foster and the institution she founded that my family have been able to grow their lives as artists. The network which has bloomed in Houston's theatre and museum districts since the 1960s and 70s fed my grandfather's business as a welding artist, fertilized my aunt's passion as a painter and my uncle's as an architect, and even employed my mother as a bartender at the Alley itself. To know that all this happened thanks to Vance's passion, determination, drive, and talent is incredibly inspiring to me, and is a reminder of how lucky I am to have seen many a show on the Alley's beautiful stages. As a woman of Houston's theatre community, I would be lying if I said I didn't have Nina Vance to thank for the world I grew up in.
It is so so great to hear about women, past and present, who are paving the way for the normalization and acceptance of women in the arts and entertainment industries. This past summer I interned at a scene shop which had over ten men for every woman who worked there. It was a bit of a wake-up call for me, since I’m so used to the fairly equal or even mostly- women dynamic of my theater educational environments in high school and so far in college. I think it’s easy to get caught up in your own bubble of acceptance and forget that there are people out there who may not be as respectful as you are used to. I think a lot of it is based in a basic lack of understanding, but I'd hope that by now men would know not to tell a woman that what she is lifting is too heavy for her or make sexual comments towards her in a work environment. I definitely think that it isn’t yet a safe place in the theater industry for women, but I think that the only way we will make a change is if we continue to push forward and not allow ourselves to be silenced by those who benefit from our silence. Tisa Chang’s story particularly inspired me as an Asian artist who has noticed the lack of Asian people working on an offstage in the arts. It is amazing to read about how resilient and powerful these women were in the face of immense adversity. It is also sad to recognize how unfamiliar these names are despite their massive achievements. I think society has a long way to come in recognizing the successes and triumphs of women, but reading articles like this gives me hope that things are changing positively.
Post a Comment