One of the many considerations that enter the discussion as we plan the next season of plays is the number of roles for women. As we look back over our nearly 20 years of producing plays we are struck with the imbalance in the number of good solid roles for women. Shakespeare doesn't help, of course; most of his plays have dozens of roles for males and one or two for women. HAMLET has Ophelia and Gertrude; MACBETH has the Lady and the three strange women; R&J has Juliet and the nurse. And each of of these women are surrounded by all sorts of guys. Of course, during Shakespeare's time there were no women actors—not allowed to be on the stage—so Will wrote his plays accordingly.
We don't have the Bard's predicament, so why does it appear to be such a struggle to find plays that feature worthy women's roles? Truth be told, we have produced some extraordinary plays with some great roles for women: THE CHALK GARDEN had three incredible roles played incredibly by Mary Ginn, Katie Ginn, and Amy DeCamp. THE VIEW FROM HERE featured Nancy List, Janice Tester, and Peggy Kovalcik. Of course, STEEL MAGNOLIAS is an all female cast and was one of our first productions up in Don Gill many years ago and featured Mary Ginn, Nancy List, Natalie Kennedy, Sheryl Collins, and Tracie Mickey Loux. Last summer we produced the comedy THE SUGAR BEAN SISTERS which featured Linda Iseri, Sheryl Collins, and Lynn Northup, and Natalie Kennedy. (And we had 20 women audition for those roles!) Of course we recently completed THE MIRACLE WORKER (for the third time) which boasts three incredible roles for women, played this time by Megan Tompkins, Tiana Lecker, and Shelley McKelvey. There have been other great female roles but so many of them seem to be surrounded by an inordinate number of men.
So, in our ongoing mission to provide opportunities for people of all ages and genders (and race and religious and political views and hair color) to affirm and empower their lives through the performing arts, we continue to look for plays that offer great roles for women. We have found, too, that many plays that feature predominately female casts are either full of incredibly stupid Southern women, or women who are trying to prove something about what it means to be a woman.
Let us hear from you. If you have an idea about a play with great roles for women, let us know about it. Also, we would be very curious to hear from you about some of the great performances by women in our 19 year (plus six months) history that made an impact on you.
THOMAS PUTNAM is the Artistic Director for Hamilton-Gibson Productions. In addition to directing plays, he is occasionally seen on stage as an actor.
Comments