I posted about not subscribing to the Taper because they didnt have any women playwrights this season, anyway… the man I spoke to was moved to write to Michael Ritchie. I thought he put the case very well. Michael Ritchies bloodless response follows his letter. Dear Mr. Ritchie, My name is ____________ and I work for the Priority Services office here at CTG. I just had a phone call with a patron today who was perfectly polite, but told me she would not be supporting the Mark Taper Forum because of our “utter lack of female playwrights”. I looked through our material, and sure enough, not one represented. She then reminded me that our last year’s Taper season had no women playwrights either. I then told her about our female powerhouse of a season we are having at the Ahmanson: including Cicely Tyson, Angela Lansbury, Dame Edna, Cinderella and Matilda. She then pointed out that none of those plays were written by women either, and that one of those women was a man. It was a good point. I then moved on to the Kirk Douglas season and was able to offer up Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmilth and Lucy Alibar. Okay, Rebecca Gilman she gave me, but Fovever and Burn Pile are part of Douglas Plus, and therefore are only given limited runs. So, when you step back and look at it, of our 3 new seasons of theater that include 14 plays with full runs, only one can boast a female playwright. 1 out of 14. I was embarrassed; I didn’t have a response. She was right. Women playwrights are woefully under represented at our theatres. In Priority Services, we are the front lines of where CTG gets to truly interact one on one with our audience, and she is not the first patron to lodge similar complaints with me. My coworkers have all spoken with at least one person who has brought up this issue as well. We are losing face with our patrons because of this. CTG is not alone in this. This is a problem all over, but I’d like for us to be different. On our mission statement page on the website it says: “On our three stages – the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and the Kirk Douglas Theatre – we present the highest quality and broadest range of theatre” I hardly feel we are living up to the “broadest range” part of that sentiment with 1 out of 14. Combine that with the fact that our educational department is doing great work by bringing in students who get to view the amazing work we put on. What sort of message does this send to the aspiring young women writers who visit us on these field trips? The bottom line is, I love working at CTG. I’m so proud to be affiliated with our organization. When a patron has a problem with CTG, I want to be able to defend us effectively. Today is the first time I felt a bit defenseless. Is there anything we can do about this? Thank you for your time and consideration, _______________ Priority Service Representative From: Michael Ritchie Sent: Monday, November 10, 2014 7:34 AM To: Nic D Subject: Re: Dear Mr. Ritchie, _______ Thanks for this, I understand the dilemma. I do hope that we always give you the best reasons to represent CTG proudly, and I am sure that there is the occasion when you are faced with a patron who offers up a legitimate question that is difficult to answer, such as the one you faced from this patron. I can assure you that we have the highest intention to be fully representative on our stages. We want to be as diverse as possible, in all respects. I do feel that over time we achieve that, but there are instances, such as this year, when we are underrepresented in certain ways. Best, Michael
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 02:01:53 +0000
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