The 8th of March every year is a day of celebration – International Women’s Day.  A special day that we recognise and celebrate all women and their remarkable contributions to the theatre industry.

This year’s theme is Accelerate Action – putting a strong emphasis on the speed and urgency in which we need achieve gender parity in all industries.

The World Economic Forum provides a stark statistic: ‘At the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity.’ 

This is shocking, and we need to take action.

Women throughout history have fought to shape the artistic landscape with their creativity and innovation. We’ve been fighting since 1350 when theatre really took off and men were already dominating the stage and other prestigious industry positions.

Despite still facing challenges like this and other barriers and pushbacks, we have continued to break boundaries, rewrite the narrative, and fight for gender parity for a better future for not only us but for the next generation of theatre makers.

Women have played a pivotal role in theatre and the arts and without us, it would be a far less bright, vibrant, interesting, inclusive, and thought-provoking industry. Theatre has a huge impact on people’s lives, and we can’t let them down.

We have incredible women playwrights, including Winsome Pinnock, April De Angelis, Suzette Coon and Julia Pascal, plus Artistic Directors, including Jenny Sealey and women fighting for gender equity such as Polly Kemp and Jennifer Tuckett plus many others, all inspiring us to do what we can to provide a greater future for women.

We are true advocates for supporting and championing all women within the arts and fighting for gender parity. We aim to put women and their stories at the heart of our productions and provide regular opportunities and platforms for women to share new and exciting writing, have their voices heard, be part of our team and represent real women on stage.

For us, driving change comes down to three things:- 

1. Representation: Ensuring representation throughout theatre is critical. From on stage to backstage, having a diverse team matters. It allows for richer storytelling, different ideas, and an inclusive audience and team experience.
   
   
2. Equal pay: We need transparency. Women must be paid the same. As a theatre company, we provide paid work at Equity rates and always pay our team on time. This is of paramount importance to us.
   
   
3. Opportunities: Offering opportunities to women in the form of workshops, training and production experience will help them get ahead in the industry and inspire them to continue their journey. It can also connect them with other people and new opportunities.

If we can all do our bit to help women strive in the industry, we are working towards our creativity and talent being valued and taken seriously.

Our plans for International Women’s Day

We are delighted to be part of ‘I AM WOMAN’ with the Alina Orchestra at Stantonbury Theatre on Saturday 8^th March to celebrate the talent and achievements of women in theatre from in and around Milton Keynes.

The Orchestra has invited women from many different communities to take part in ‘I AM WOMAN’ with the intention of showcasing the diversity within our city.  It will feature a number of performances from local musicians, both amateur and professional, including the Alina Orchestra,  Jessica Wise – soprano,
Sarah Jones – Jazz,  Guild Singers,  Junction 14,  Songbirds Towcester Ladies Singing Group  &  MK Women’s Choir  &  Catherine Rose - Musical Director. 

We hope you can join us.

This International Women’s Day let’s celebrate and show our commitment to supporting women, challenging the bias and stereotypes and fighting for gender parity in our industry. Let’s work together to see how we can Accelerate Action.