Women's Theatre Festival Re-Launches as The National Women's Theatre Festival

After five years of seeking equity and representation in theatre communities both locally and nationally, Women's Theatre Festival is officially becoming The National Women's Theatre Festival.

During the past year and a half, WTF has connected artists and audiences from the Triangle region of North Carolina with those from all over the world, creating an exciting national dialogue around gender parity and social justice in theatre.

WTF's Official Statement: "The Women's Theatre Festival was formed in 2016 to address gender disparity on & off the stage. Since then, we have been in a constant state of change, all along the way learning and listening to the needs of our community. We've become a catalyst for change in the gender parity movement, both locally and nationally. We've had the pleasure of collaborating with artists from all over the nation and we are so thankful for the relationships we have made along the way. These friendships gained, collaborations created, and partnerships forged have led us to a very exciting announcement...We are now The National Women's Theatre Festival. Our logo, our "brand," will no longer be a very specific type of woman in a ballgown, but rather a manifestation of the amplified voices of all who have been underrepresented, who are claiming their space, who are screaming out into the world 'WTF!' So what comes next? We keep on doing what we have been doing! Creating, producing, promoting the extraordinary work of ALL underrepresented genders."

To get involved with our programming - Festival 21 & so much more- please visit womenstheatrefestival.com."

With this increased footprint, WTF will continue to produce its annual festival-which combines a fringe festival, theatre conference, and family-focused program track-in the heart of Raleigh, NC, along with a season full of other offerings. While Festival 21 is an all-virtual event, plans are in the works for the 2022 convening to be a national destination event with a hybrid virtual component. WTF's season will continue to include Occupy The Stage, the annual staged reading marathon festival of new works by women and TGNC playwrights from around the country, with at least 50% of opportunities reserved for North Carolina based artists.

Along with deeper partnerships with local companies, such as Playmakers Rep and Theatre Raleigh, WTF plans to continue developing meaningful relationships with other companies around the nation who share their inclusive values. Past, current, and future partners include

Oregon's Play On Shakespeare, LA's Breath of Fire Latina Theatre, NYC's The Anthropologists, and PAAL, the Parent Artist Advocacy League.

Another facet of WTF's national reach includes fostering other local communities, like our sister company, the Bay Area Women's Theatre Festival. As Rowen Haigh, WTF's Director of Education & Outreach puts it, "WTF is both a physical and ideological nexus point for parity conversations to connect and converge. We're thrilled to offer resources and support to individuals and groups doing this type of work in their own communities and to provide the platform for everyone to come together to share, collaborate, and amplify one another."

What Comes Next: This rebrand comes just in time for Festival 21, the 6th annual convening of the Women's Theatre Festival, and the impressive line-up of accomplished, impassioned guests, groundbreaking performances, and unparalleled opportunities promises something for every theatre maker and enthusiast.

The all-virtual Festival 21 runs July 9-25. WTF Con's headlining guests include Eden Espinosa, Karen Olivo, and Lauren Gunderson among the 50 conference sessions. WTFringe features 14 productions, ranging from one-person shows to VR experiences and everything in between, over 3 weekends of performances culminating in a Best Of Fringe Awards Day on July 25. WTFringe will also feature productions by the WTFringe Lab, a training program for early career directors, performers, and streamers, and the WTFamily Teen Devising Performance Program.

WTF's first season under the banner of The National Women's Theatre Festival will also include The Momversations Project, a year-long community created production in partnership with Paal; Occupy The Stage; the Virtual Plays Club series of experimental new virtual works; partnering with Theatre Raleigh with their mainstage production Fun Home as well as a project with Playmakers Rep; and affinity space projects for Black and Trans theatre artists.

"None of this could have been possible without the incredible support and encouragement of the greater Raleigh arts community. From the Office of Raleigh Arts to the folks at United Arts Council and all of the other amazing organizations we are in community with, WTF has benefitted from so much nurturing, gracious wisdom and enthusiasm. We're so proud to call Raleigh home and to be a part of bringing theatremakers from around the world to be into conversation and practice with this vibrant community," says WTF's Executive Artistic Director Johannah Maynard Edwards.

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