Only 6% of respondents believe there has been an increase in opportunities for women in theatre.
84% of women in theatre are still being impacted by the pandemic.
The two above sobering statistics were my key takeaways from reading Women in Theatre Survey Update 2023 written by Jennifer Tuckett. It follows up the previous report published in 2021 which itself follows on from What Share the Cake and Women Centre Stage Symposium at Hampstead Theatre in 2019 and Women in Theatre Forum in early 2020. This year’s report coincides with the launch of the Women in Theatre Lab which will seek to nurture a new generation of female playwrights.
The report utilises direct quotes from the survey respondents and it paints a bleak picture of theatre in 2023. Less opportunities in theatre generally mean less for groups less represented in theatre including women, theatres are becoming risk adverse so falling back on known and tested works, historically written by men with more male roles. In 2023 women’s writing is still viewed as risky. Theatre’s financial pressures are leading to worsening pay and condition. Many of the support organisations have lost their ACE funding. All of these pressures are leading to real health challenges added to post pandemic exhaustion.
One issue that stood out for me is the lack of opportunities and funding to support women over 35, I have noticed that many schemes and prizes have a cut-off age of 30 or 35. Yet we know that theatre careers are not linear, there needs to be support and opportunities no matter what age and support to take in those moving from early career to mid-career and beyond. To quote one respondent: “Jumping from small scale to mid-scale (or from emerging to mid-career) seems impossible now that so many of those mid-scale theatres are closed or closed to newcomers.”
The report calls for the government and Arts Council to better support women in theatre with policy changes, for the Arts Council and theatre to find ways to better support childcare, and for both funding and programmes to support women in theatre.
Following the report’s publication women including playwright April De Angelis and The Globe’s chief executive Stella Kanu have called for a government inquiry into the under-representation of women in the arts.