Women’s
Project…"A Gem of a Discovery"--The New York Times
As the nation's oldest and largest company dedicated to producing and promoting theater created by women, Women's Project is the magnetic force field for innovative artists and adventurous theater-goers from around the world.
Women’s Project was founded in 1978 by Julia Miles to address the significant under-representation of women in the American theater. Since then, countless artists have launched their careers and achieved substantial recognition at WP, including Anne Bogart, Eve Ensler, Emily Mann, Lynn Nottage, Maria Irene Fornes, Leigh Silverman, Suzan-Lori Parks, Katori Hall, Diane Paulus, Paula Vogel, and Anna Deavere Smith, among the many.
Throughout its luminous history, WP has staged over 600 mainstage productions and developmental projects, and published eleven anthologies of plays by women.
Under the leadership of Julie Crosby since 2006, WP’s mission remains absolutely vital. Only 20% of professionally produced plays in the nation have women playwrights and directors at the helm. And frustratingly, the statistics precipitously decline at the largest theaters. Women’s Project is proud to give women theater artists the opportunities they so richly deserve, but rarely receive.
Kathleen Chalfant says: "I was a founding member of Women's Project at the very beginning when Julia Miles
found herself appalled at the status of women writers
and directors in the American Theatre. In the intervening 30 years, Women's Project has been an essential part of changing that equation. Its greatest contribution perhaps has been to create an "old girls' network" that provides a community of supportive equals who prove that anything is possible for anyone with a little luck, a lot of talent, and a world of women cheering you on."
Woven through WP's colorful tapestry are some of
this
count ry's most esteemedwriters; among them
are
Julie Ann Boyd and Joan
Micklin Silver (A My Name is Alice), Rinne
Groff (Inky), Emily Mann (Still
Life), Naomi Wallace (Birdy), Maria
Irene Fornes (Abingdon Square),
and Eve Ensler (Ladies).
An impressive roster of directors have made their
mark here,including Anne Bogart (Go
Go Go), Lisa Peterson (The
Chemistry of Change), and Diane Paulus (Best
of Both Worlds).
Countless
actors began their careers on the boards of WP. Sarah Jessica
Parker was completing high school by day
and performing at
night in Paula Cizmar's The Death of a Miner co-starring
Academy Award® winner, Mary McDonnell. Before Jimmy
Smits joined "NYPD Blue" and "The West Wing",
he was pounding it out with Linda Hunt in Lavonne
Mueller's Little Victories. And speaking of "The
West Wing", John Spencer won his first Obie here
for his stellar performance in Still Life and
political observer/social commentator/solo tour de force, Anna
Deveare Smith, originated one of her first pieces Aye,
Aye, Aye, I'm Integrated in 1983.
Join us as a member for imaginative, meaningful, and theatrically dynamic productions. Join us
for a spirited range of events and opportunities beyond the stage. Join us in voicing a belief in the power, range and substance of women theater artists. Your support matters!
Special Thanks to the Robert Sterling Clark
Foundation and the Dorothy Strelsin Foundation for their 2006 fiscal
year contributions that helped make this website possible.
|
