WomenArts is a proud supporter of the Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival,  a thrilling collaboration of 40 of the best theatre companies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A producing team of 20 “instigators” headed by Michaela Goldhaber (Lead Instigator) and Susan Shay (Festival Producer) has been working for the past year to organize this ambitious festival which will highlight gender parity, diversity, and inclusion on- and off-stage during March, April, and May 2020 as part of Support Women Artists Now Day/SWAN Day 2020.  You can see information about the participating theatres here>>

Golden Thread Productions & Crowded Fire Theater will present “On the Periphery,” Sedef Ecer’s play about migrants in Istanbul’s urban slums, as part of the festival.

Each participating theatre company has agreed to present a full production, staged reading, or other event that will feature works written and directed by theater practitioners who are women+ or non-binary.  Also, at least 50% of the performers and designers will be women+ or non-binary.

The three-month festival will be officially launched on March 2, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. with a fundraising party at Peet’s Theatre and Lobby in Berkeley featuring a reading of Susan B., a new play by local playwright Daphne White about Susan B. Anthony and the early fight for women’s rights.  Info & tickets>>

Two Series of Staged Readings
In addition to persuading 40 theatre companies to present works by women+ and non-binary artists, the festival instigators are producing two series of staged readings:

A play based on the letters of the 17th century Latin American nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz will be included in the Classical Reading Series.

• The Women of Color Staged Reading Series will feature four contemporary plays by local and internationally known women+ and non-binary playwrights of color, directed by women+ and non-binary artists of color. (Curated by Kathryn Seabron.)
• The Classical Staged Reading Series, produced in collaboration with Bay Area Shakespeare companies, will feature seven plays including works by Aphra Behn, Susanna Centlivre, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mary Pix, and Joanna Baillie. (Curated by Michaela Goldhaber.)

A 24-Hour Performance Marathon: Amplify!

The Granny Cart Gangstas comedy troupe will perform as part of the Amplify! performance marathon.

The festival instigators are also producing a 24-hour performance marathon featuring over 60 acts called Amplify!  Part fringe festival and part epic slumber party, Amplify! will have a little something for everyone – comedy, burlesque, plays, children’s programs, solo shows, musical, workshops, works in progress, devised theatre, clowning and more. Amplify! will run from 6 p.m. on April 18 to 6 p.m. on April 19, 2020 at Brava for Women in the Arts in San Francisco.  Info & tickets>>

Buy A Festival Pass!

The Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival will provide a rare opportunity to see a wide range of works by women+ and non-binary artists over the next three months.  Each theatre will sell tickets to its own productions, but if you buy a Festival Pass for about $20, you will have access to 20% discounts on participating productions as well as preferred seating at the two series of staged readings.  Buy a festival pass>>

Thanks so much to all of the instigators, who have worked so hard to create this wonderful celebration which will provide visibility and employment to so many women+ and non-binary theatre artists.

The Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival was inspired by the Women’s Voices Festival in Washington, DC and the Women’s Theatre Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina.  It is great to see how women from different parts of the country are inspiring each other.  Let’s hope the trend continues and that other communities start organizing festivals too!