Women on Screen

The number of women working in the film industry has grown substantially over the years, however men still outnumber their female counterparts and dominate the key roles both on and off camera. Sadly, this male overshadowing isn’t too dissimilar to that of the theatre industry.

Ensuring we, as an industry and a theatre company, have inclusive representation of women on and off the stage is what The Play’s The Thing is all about. This way of thinking should be no different for any other theatre company, business, filmmaker etc. 

It is extremely important to us to be able to give inspirational women from stage and screen a platform to showcase their talents and increase their visibility to other women. So, that is exactly what we are doing at our forthcoming event ‘Taking the Stage and Screen’ in March 2022 at MK Gallery.

Like our last event in 2019, we will be celebrating a number of women from our industry and giving them the opportunity to share their newly commissioned plays, showcase scratch pieces, host thought provoking debates and more. 

This year we will be introducing a new element to our schedule, ‘On Screen’, which will shine a spotlight on the amazing achievements of influential women from the world of film. We are dedicating Friday 1st April to our female filmmakers. 

Gambian filmmaker, Nana Oguntola, will provide an insightful introduction into her filmmaking background following her move to Milton Keynes from The Gambia in 2007, and her independent film and TV production company.

Curated by Nana, guests will be able to see films by Africa and Asian women directors.

Award winning filmmaker, Jane Sanger, will also be with us to host a Q&A on how to get a film made through crowd funding. 

Our Artistic Director, Rosemary Hill, is also a film and TV Director and Producer. Rosemary worked making documentaries all over the world for the BBC.

A fantastic opportunity for those who are a budding filmmaking and wanting to hear from and discuss elements of the industry with three women at the top of their game. 

Rosemary Hill, Artistic Director of The Play’s The Thing Theatre Company says:

It is so important for us to celebrate and support all women in the arts and focus on the great work, skills and ability that we have to offer.

Quite often we are overlooked, and we feel invisible around our male counterparts, but our event will help to increase women's visibility on stage and screen and will hopefully reach undiscovered female talent, inspire more women to share their unique stories and to follow their own passion and dreams.

Thank you to The Arts Council England for making this event possible. 

Tickets to ‘Taking the Stage and Screen’ at MK Gallery from 30th March – 2nd April will be available directly from the MK Gallery’s website very soon.  Please keep an eye on our social channels for details.