THE COUNT 2.0 Released By The Dramatists Guild Of America And The Lillys

The Dramatists Guild of America and The Lillys are pleased to announce the second installment of The Count, a follow-up to the study released in 2015. The Count has been a game-changer in the conversation about parity, contributing to recently documented upturns in the numbers of plays by women and writers of color produced on U.S. stages. The Guild and The Lillys are proud to be continuing the conversation.

The Count is an ongoing study that asks the question, "Who is being produced in the U.S.?" For this second installment, six years of data from productions in regional theaters across America was studied. The full study analyzes gender, race, genre and, this time, there is a new line of study of revivals to determine which writers, over time, enter our national canon. "The statistics presented here will serve as a baseline and, we expect, will be interesting to track across subsequent years," stated Julia Jordan, Treasurer of the Dramatists Guild and Executive Director of The Lillys, in her introduction to The Count.

The Count was funded by the Dramatists Guild and The Lilly Awards and was originally presented at the DG's National Conference in 2015. The full report contains graphics by Bekka Lindstrom and statistics by Anya Marchenko and Graham Tierney, University of Chicago. The Count project was conceived by Julia Jordan and Marsha Norman and has been edited by the Guild's Director of Publications, Joey Stocks.

The Lillys were started in the Spring of 2010 as a way to honor the work of women in the American Theater. The founders were Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman and Theresa Rebeck. The awards and foundation are named for Lillian Hellman, a pioneering American playwright who famously said, "You need to write like the devil and act like one when necessary." The awards continue in the tradition of her spirit and annually honor the work of women in the American Theater. More information is available at www.thelillyawards.org.

The Dramatists Guild of America was established over 100 years ago and is the only professional association which advances the interests of playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists writing for the living stage. The Guild has over 7,000 members nationwide, from beginning writers to the most prominent authors represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. The Guild's current president is Doug Wright. More information is available at www.dramatistsguild.com.

To read and access The Count, please go to the Dramatists Guild website at https://www.dramatistsguild.com/advocacy/the-count-2/.