Tony Nominee Marin Ireland Leads Jessica Chastain and More in Campaign Against Sexual Harassment in the Theatre

Marin Ireland has decided to let her voice be heard. And many prominent actors are behind her all the way.

The Tony Award-winner believes that in theatre, a world where sexually suggestive activity is often part of the job, the lines can often be blurred between appropriate and inappropriate activity among actors. Having been a recent victim of abuse from a co-star herself, Ireland views sexual harassment as an issue lacking in regulation and guidelines in the theatre scene. But she is campaigning to change that.

With the support of 500 theatre artists, including such notable personalities as Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain and Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason, Ireland is propositioning Actors' Equity to implement clear guidelines for handling and reporting sexual harassment.

According to the New York Times, Ireland is pushing to, "Have a statement read on the first day of rehearsals for all Broadway and professional shows that describes how to file complaints about harassment or other unprofessional behavior; to designate union officials to handle these complaints; and to create a confidential mediation process where complainants and the accused can talk through instances of harassment, misconduct and abuse with a mediator and without fear of penalties."

The Actors' Equity has declined to comment on this petition. However, they said in a statement that the guidelines for such actions are already, "clear and strong."

Marin Ireland is an American film, stage and television actress.

She won the 2009 Theatre World Award and was nominated for a 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Reasons to be Pretty.

Ireland trained at the Idyllwild Arts Foundation in Idyllwild, California, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Hartt School, a performing-arts conservatory at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut.

She made her off-Broadway theatre début in Nocturne (2001), a play written by Adam Rapp, which ran at the New York Theater Workshop. She also appeared in the play during its run in the American Repertory Theatre New Stages presentation at the Hasty Pudding Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts in October 2000.

Her off-Broadway work includes Caryl Churchill's Far Away (2002) at the New York Theatre Workshop. She played the title role in Sabina (2005) by Willy Holtzman at Primary Stages. She was featured in the 2008 stage adaptation of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles, a series of lesbian pulp fiction novels by Ann Bannon. She appeared in the New Group revival of A Lie of the Mind in February and March 2010.

She made her Broadway theatre début in reasons to be pretty (2009). For this performance, she received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a play and the Theatre World Award. She then appeared in After Miss Julie in a Roundabout Theatre Company presentation of a Donmar Warehouse production at the American Airlines Theatre in September through December 2009. In November 2012, she starred in the title role of Marie Antoinette in the world premiere at the Yale Repertory Theatre

Photo credit: Facebook/Marin Ireland