Nomination Deadline Extended for 2017 ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards

The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) has extended the Nomination deadline for the sixth annual 50/50 Applause Award, celebrating theaters which achieved gender parity among their produced playwrights within the past theater season.

Research in the UK, France, Canada, Australia and the USA, in the last decade, has revealed the lack of equal representation of female playwrights on professional theater stages. A typical ratio of male to female playwrights is two to one. Many theater companies have committed to take action and demonstrate gender equity in their programming.

Patricia L. Morin, Co-chair of the 50/50 Applause Awards Committee, said, "We applaud theater companies that produce works by women at least half the time. Theaters like the Royal Court Theatre, London, UK, the HERE Art Centre New York, the Peridot Theatre, Victoria, Australia and the Prairie Theatre Exchange in Manitoba, Canada are showing the way. It is important and necessary that theater reflects the imagination of female dramatists and that professional theaters use their resources equally to support playwriting as a career for women. We have had reports from theaters that having a 50/50 Applause Award has added weight to their successful applications for funding."

Anyone may nominate eligible theaters, including members of the public, ICWP Members, artistic directors and other theater employees. This year's nomination form will remain open until 10 July, 2017 on the ICWP website.

Established in 1989, The International Centre for Women Playwrights promotes and supports women playwrights. We aim to help achieve a fair representation of the female imagination on the world's stages. ICWP provides a place for peer support, knowledge-sharing, and play publication. It is our goal to see more gender equity in professional theaters and for women playwrights to sustain careers as dramatists. When female dramatists are no longer discriminated against, we will no longer need to exist. We work for that day!

For more information and to see the full guidelines, visit http://www.womenplaywrights.org/50-50applauseawards