Rafaella Marcus among 10 playwrights selected for inaugural Women in Theatre Lab

Sap writer Rafaella Marcus and Bush Theatre associate dramaturg Titilola Dawudu are among the 10 playwrights chosen for the inaugural Women in Theatre Lab.

The cohort, which also includes 2022 Women’s Prize for Playwriting winner Karis Kelly, will receive one-to-one mentoring, a seed commission, sessions on business and craft skills and a showcase, in an initiative spearheaded by the likes of April De Angelis and Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Prima Facie playwright Suzie Miller and American playwright Dorothy Fortenberry will also contribute to the cohort’s instruction mentorship, alongside actors Joanna Scanlan and Doon Mackichan, Stella Kanu and Stella Powell-Jones. 

Run in partnership with Her Story Productions and the Jermyn Street Theatre amongst others, the Women in Theatre Lab aims to correct a disparity between the staging of men and women’s writing.

Other selected participants for the scheme are Nina Berry, Charlotte Small, Elle Van Lil, Millie Bloom, Emma Baim, Sumerah Srivastav and Naomi Sumner Chan.

The Divine Mrs S dramatist De Angelis said she was looking forward to contributing to the Lab, and said the scheme was "much needed to address the gender inequality in theatre."

Werternbaker commented: "It is still shockingly difficult for women to find encouragement and a secure place in the theatre and this will certainly go a long way to help."

Shakespeare’s Globe chief executive Kanu said it was "exciting" to give a "space and platform" to female playwrights, while Jermyn Theatre artistic director Powell-Jones said: "This programme couldn’t be off to a stronger start than with these 10 extraordinary writers. We can’t wait to see what comes next."

Jennifer Tuckett, who led a five-year research project into women in theatre, said she and her fellow co-director Polly Kemp had been spoilt for choice with submissions to the scheme.

She said: "We were overwhelmed by the number of excellent applications we received for the first Women in Theatre Lab in the UK - over double the number of applications received for previous one-off programmes Polly and I have run. It was a difficult decision choosing the final ten and we wanted to support many more - we hope those not chosen this year will apply again in future years."

It comes after the group, which combines the efforts of partners including ERA 50:50 and Sphinx theatre company, held a historic meeting with Arts Council England on gender inequality in theatre.

That meeting saw ACE agree to contemplate the creation of a gender advisory board to address issues including female under-representation and burdensome childcare responsibilities.