Nominations Open Next Week for International Centre for Women Playwrights' 50/50 Award

Communities from Toronto to Dublin to Washington, D.C. are focusing on the vast gender inequity for professional playwrights and other theatre practitioners.

The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) is proud to sponsor the fifth annual 50/50 Applause Award, celebrating theatres which achieved gender parity among their produced playwrights within the past theatre season. The nomination window for the 2015-2016 theatrical season is about to open!

This year's nomination form will go live May 2, 2016 on the main page of the ICWP website, www.womenplaywrights.org, where you will also find links to videos and news. Anyone may nominate eligible theatres.

The following are highlights of the eligibility requirements:

- At least 50% of the plays produced between July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 are the work of female playwrights

- At least 50% of the total number of performances during that window are the work of female playwrights

- Theatres may not have the development of works by women as their main mission statement

Further information is available at www.womenplaywrights.org/award. Please contact ICWP if you need translation assistance.

Along with artistic directors and theatre employees, the public is encouraged to nominate any theatre which meets the criteria for the award. Please share this information with your theatre friends around the world! Recipients of the 2015/16 award will be announced in September 2016. Start verifying information now to be ready to nominate when the window opens May 2nd. For more information about the award and previous recipients, go to www.womenplaywrights.org/50/50-Awards-History.

Established in 1989, The International Centre for Women Playwrights is an organization that exists to bring attention to the achievements of women playwrights and to provide a place for peer support, knowledge-sharing, and play publication. It is the goal of ICWP to enable women playwrights to have their plays professionally produced on the major stages of world theatres and to receive just recompense for their efforts. When the numbers are no longer tragically skewed against women, we will no longer be needed. We work for that day!