Windsor Fringe Rejects Director Femi Fagunwa For Being A Woman

The Windsor Fringe was started in 1969 by a group of six friends who were committed to presenting a festival of all the arts at affordable prices.

The company's website states that they are passionate about being a platform for promoting new talent. One avenue towards that end is their International Drama Writing Award, sponsored by Kenneth Branagh, presenting 30-minute one-act plays.

Director Femi Fagunwa received a shock this week, when her application to direct one of the plays was rejected because, as stated in an email from Head of Drama Awards Ann Trewartha, which she posted on her Facebook page, "a male director would be better for this play."

Trewartha also offered her a complimentary ticket.

Fagunwa's reaction, which can be read in full at the link below, states, "Sexism as decision making tool is completely unintelligent and those who help to perpetuate it further, especially in so obvious a manner, are beyond foolish!"

She adds, "You should probably take a look at your diversity with regards to ethnicity too but I dare say that issue is for a separate email."

The Windsor Fringe has posted the following statement on its website:

The Windsor Fringe would like to apologize for the unacceptable contents of an e-mail sent to one of our applicant directors.

The contents of the email were a result of extremely poor communication and lack of judgement and not a reflection on the selection process. All applicants are judged on merit only and it is a priority of Windsor Fringe to promote and deliver equality and diversity as we support new and emerging artists.

.The Windsor Fringe has been established since 1999 and is a run on a totally volunteer basis. The committee give their time freely to provide an annual Festival at reasonable prices in which we aspire to give opportunities and voice to new artists.

We are proud of our Drama Award now in its 13th year and we have received nearly 3000 scripts from 38 countries which are read anonymously. We have confirmed our three directors, all selected on merit only.

We apologize again for the error in judgment of the email content and affirm that all applicants are judged on merit only and this year was a particularly difficult choice as we had many extremely talented directors apply

We deeply regret any offense caused by the contents of the email

Dr. Mike Denny (Chairman)

Ann Trewartha (Head of Drama Awards)

For more information on the Windsor Fringe, visit windsorfringe.co.uk