Pat the Dog Theatre Creation Partners with Playwrights Guild of Canada and Theatre Sector’s Major Players for Equity in Theatre (EIT)

“Spearhead by Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) and Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, EIT was formed in part owing to the discovery that even though women comprise over 50 per cent of Equity in Theatre PGC’s membership, they do not account for even one quarter of the playwrights produced on our nation’s stages.”
– Canadian Theatre Review Volume 165, Equity in Theatre, winter 2016

Pat the Dog Theatre Creation and the Playwrights Guild of Canada, in partnership with some of the arts industry’s most vital organizations, is proud to be part of Equity in Theatre (EIT) a multi-stakeholder initiative aiming to remedy existing gender inequities in the theatre industry. Through a multi-pronged and inclusive response that involves the community as a whole (artists, stakeholders, and audiences), EIT promotes dialogue, generate greater awareness of and exposure to women theatre practitioners, and develop community-based action plans to help fix industry imbalances. Thanks to funding from Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the Ontario Arts Council, the EIT campaign will redress gender inequities in the theatre sector.

Led by Rebecca Burton, PGC’s Membership and Contracts Manager, and Laine Zisman Newman, Dramaturgical Associate with Pat the Dog Theatre Creation, EIT launched in 2014-15 with four different components: a preparatory research study, a Symposium held in Toronto in April 2015, a website dedicated to Canadian women in theatre, and live performance events, including play readings, social actions, and more.

EIT’s Steering Committee and stellar cast of partners includes Artists Driving Holistic Organizational Change, Associated Designers of Canada, Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario, Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (Canada),Pat the Dog Theatre Creation,  and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

With this initiative, the EIT team hopes to foster dialogue on an international scale, develop social actions that will help effect change, and generate greater awareness of and exposure to Canadian women in theatre, all the while highlighting the systemic discrimination that permeates the industry still.

 

Equity in Theatre Symposium Follow-Up!

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The Equity in Theatre Symposium was a resounding success! Thanks to all who participated and continue to help us all work towards our goal!

You can see highlights from the symposium HERE.

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Interested in bringing change to your community? Strategic suggestions and instructions are available. Take a look at the infographic below.

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