Suffragette City: Theater Women Take the Great White Way

On Tuesday, June 11, teams of women dressed Suffrage-style will take to the streets of the theater district in Manhattan dressed with sashes and armed with pamphlets in a display not seen since the days before the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920 for the "Women Stage the World Equality Parade."

"The parade will be a celebration of our accomplishments and a chance to engage the public in a conversation about the future," said director Mahayana Landowne, who co-chairs the Advocacy Committee of Women Stage the World, a project of The League of Professional Women. "Given the public interest in Governor Cuomo's Women's Equality Act and Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, the timing could not be better for this conversation. We see it as an inflection point, and we are seizing the moment to raise awareness and change up the status quo."

At 6:00 PM, over 100 women dressed in costumes in honor of famous women of the stage, including Dorothy Parker, Katharine Cornell, Aphra Behn, Margo Jones, Lady Gregory or Hallie Flanagan, the director of WPA Theatre. Parade organizers ask any interested participants to dress in the costume of a famous theatrical foremother, or in all white, or in purple and black. Hats are encouraged. WOMEN STAGE THE WORLD sashes will be distributed to marchers.

According to Women Stage the World, men continue to outnumber women four to one as playwrights, directors and designers. The LPTW said they are tired of the gender inequality.

"Women buy two-thirds of the tickets and represent 65 percent of the audience," said playwright Deborah Savadge, a co-chair of the Advocacy Committee. "The irony is that 80 percent of the time, the storytelling on stage is shaped by men's voices not women's."

Through this march, Women Stage the World will prompt ticket-buyers to ask themselves who wrote, directed and designed the play; what is the theater's track record in giving opportunities to women; and how can you spread the word about this inequality? Among those theaters with good track records are Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Three Graces, New Georges and The Women's Project.

"In a field that is influenced by existing networks and long-standing relationships, artistic directors and literary managers need to find ways to remain open to work by women artists," said Savadge and Landowne, giving the example of symphony orchestras' "blind auditions" where candidates audition behind screens.

In the week following the parade, the group will promote a national dialogue connecting theatre artists in New York with others around the country to explore the issue and brainstorm solutions. Outcomes of this progressive conversation will be posted on www.womenstagetheworld.org and used to mobilize a next round of action in September.