The Kilroys have announced the third annual installment of “The List.” The LA-based collective has assembled a list of production-ready new plays written by female and trans writers. The Kilroys launched “The List” in 2014 to combat systemic gender bias in U.S. theater programming. By highlighting works from underrepresented playwrights, “The List” helps work toward achieving gender parity.
“The List” is composed of 32 unproduced plays — the most-recommended plays out of 569 plays nominated. Each of the 32 plays received between five and 14 nominations. The 82 plays that received between three to four nominations have been acknowledged as honorable mentions. The Kilroys surveyed 230 professional artistic directors, literary managers, professors, producers, directors, and dramaturgs in determining “The List.”
“The vetted collection of industry-recommended works was designed to bring worthy plays by female and trans playwrights to the forefront of the American Theater conversation: and it has,” reads a press release for “The List.” “In the first two years of its existence, ‘The List’ has featured 99 plays (46 plays on ‘The List’ 2014; 53 plays on ‘The List’ 2015), and over 1,000 plays have been nominated by upwards of 450 industry professionals. Since then, more than 100 productions of plays on ‘The List’ from both years have been mounted or announced.”
A survey of playwrights featured on “The List” found that 95 percent of respondents experienced an increase of requests for their plays after being included on “The List,” and 80 percent had their plays produced at notable theaters including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center Theatre Group, South Coast Rep, Atlantic Theater Company, and others.
“The Count,” a 2015 study led by playwrights Marsha Norman and Julia Jordan, found that that over the past three seasons, approximately one-fifth of the productions were written by women — 22 percent, to be exact.
“The List” hopes to boost that figure, and offers producers and theaters invested in gender equality an invaluable resource to help bridge the divide.
“The Kilroys have done a huge amount of work to shift the paradigm about gender parity in the theater,” said playwright Georgette Kelly, who made “The List” in 2015. “They have increased my visibility as a playwright, called me to a greater engagement with the national dialogue about equity in theater, and generally reminded me that a small, committed group of bad-asses can change the world.”
Check out “The List” below. Find more information about “The List” — including criteria, honorable mentions, and plot summaries of the plays — over at The Kilroys’ website.
- “The Art of Gaman” by Dipika Guha
- “Kings” by Sarah Burgess
- “Curve of Departure” by Rachel Bonds
- “Laura and the Sea” by Kate Tarker
- “Air Space” by Tori Keenan-Zelt
- “Radio Island” by Liz Birkenmeier
- “Cost of Living” by Martyna Majok
- “Dance Nation” by Clare Barron
- “Cygnus” by Susan Soon He Stanton
- “Pilgrims” by Claire Kiechel
- “Pretty Hunger” by Patricia Ione Lloyd
- “School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh
- “381 Bleecker” by Gia Marotta
- “Brilliant Works of Art” by Donna Hoke
- “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops” by Jen Silverman
- “Merit” by Lenelle Moïse
- “Out of Orbit” by Jennifer Maisel
- “The Rug Dealer”by Riti Sachdeva
- “Transfers” by Lucy Thurber
- “Wild Goose Dreams” by Hansol Jung
- “Wink” by Jen Silverman
- “Against the Hillside” by Sylvia Khoury
- “Eat You and You Belong to Us” by MJ Kaufman
- “Firecracker” by Rachel Bonds
- “Good Grief” by Ngozi Anyanwu
- “Orange” by Aditi Brennan Kapil
- “Pass Over” by Antoinette Nwandu
- “Roz and Ray” by Karen Hartman
- “Sofonisba” by Callie Kimball
- “Somebody’s Daughter” by Chisa Hutchinson
- “Welcome to Fear City” by Kara Lee Corthron
- “Wolf at the Door” by Marisela Treviño Orta
