Arts Council England Invites Leading Women In Theatre To Historic Meeting

Arts Council England has invited the attendees of a historic Women in Theatre research project meeting in March back to the Arts Council to hear what actions it has decided it is possible for ACE to take to address the under-representation of and discrimination against women in the arts.

The meeting will be attended by the leaders of the partners on the Women in Theatre 5 year research project, who are all of the leading organisations currently looking at this area, including CEO of the WOW Foundation Jude Kelly, lead of the five year Women in Theatre research project, co-Director of the Women in Theatre Lab and the former Research and Literary Director at Sphinx Theatre Jennifer Tuckett, CEO of The Globe Theatre and co-founder of Black Womxn in Theatre Stella Kanu, The Writers' Guild of Great Britain Deputy General Secretary Lesley Gannon, former Equity President and President at the time of the research Maureen Beattie, CEO of Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA) Cassie Raine, Managing Director of Aurora Metro Publishing Cheryl Robson, Director of ERA 50:50 and co-Director of the Women in Theatre Lab Polly Kemp, and former Chair of Equity Women's committee Kelly Burke.

The meeting is the first time Arts Council England has invited the five year Women in Theatre research project to a meeting (rather than the Women in Theatre research project requesting a meeting to share their results) and also the first time Arts Council England has taken action in over five years to address the under-representation of and discrimination against women in theatre.

The meeting follows ACE's historic agreement at March's meeting, which was requested by the Women in Theatre research project for the end of the five year research project, to take action on the under-representation of women and discrimination against women in the arts for the end of the 5 year Women in Theatre research project. The project brought together all of the leading organisations currently looking at this issue and March's meeting was the first time ACE had agreed to take action on this issue in over five years.

Since the meeting in March, initial actions taken so far by Arts Council England include making a commitment to adjusting language in guidance to applicants to make it clear childcare is eligible to be included in National Lottery Project Grants, a meeting between Parents and Carers in the Performing Arts and the Art Council's Director of Strategy Michelle Dickson to discuss childcare and how to support and amplify this message, and Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, Michelle Dickson and other members of the Arts Council team have been in regular contact with the Women in Theatre Research Project to keep them informed as ACE have been working on other possibilities over the last five months, including their agreement to consider setting up a gender advisory group and to look at how employment figures such as those ACE use (showing a certain number of women are in particular jobs) are not the same as experience figures/qualitative findings which highlight discrimination (and which might show that, as the number of women in jobs increases, this also means more women are experiencing various forms of workplace discrimination which needs to be addressed).

The meeting, which will take place on October 14th, will be attended by Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, Arts Council England's Director of Strategy Michelle Dickson and Director of Theatre Neil Darlison amongst others and will focus on what actions the Arts Council has decided it is possible for it to take to address the issue of the under-representation of and discrimination against women in the arts for the end of the 5 year Women in Theatre research project which brought together findings from all of the partner organisations with particular issues including discrimination against older women, the need to improve support for childcare and caring responsibilities, the issue of unconscious bias in the workplace and the need to improve policy support.

Jennifer Tuckett, lead on the five year Women in Theatre Research project and co-Director of the Women in Theatre Lab said: "It has been fantastic and much appreciated the way Arts Council England have been working on and have kept us informed since March of their work in response to our meeting. This has been a real watershed moment of working together to address this issue for the first time during the five years of the Women in Theatre research project (and longer) and we can't wait to hear what actions ACE have decided it is possible for them to take. Already committing to updating the language to make it clear childcare can be put down on Project Grants, meeting with PiPA to work on how else to support and amplify this message, and taking the time to consider and work on possibilities for five months has been a historic achievement. As we come to the end of the five year Women in Theatre research project, it is brilliant to know we have achieved some genuine action via the project including five months focus by the Arts Council on this area, as well as previous work such as the use of the research project by the Scottish government and as far afield as India and Australia."

Jude Kelly, CEO of the WOW Foundation said: "We're delighted the Arts Council have invited us back to hear what actions they have decided it is possible to take based on our meeting with them in March for the end of the 5 year Women in Theatre research project. It is vital that the ongoing under-representation of and lack of structural support for women who work in the arts is addressed."

Polly Kemp, Director of ERA 50: 50 and co-Director of the Women in Theatre Lab said: "It's fantastic that Arts Council England has invited us back to discuss the actions they plan to take to address the ongoing under-representation of women in the arts. Women continue to face significant under-representation across the sector, and it's crucial that meaningful steps are taken to protect and advance their careers."

Stella Kanu, CEO of The Globe Theatre and co-founder of Black Womxn in Theatre, said: "Our last meeting with Arts Council was positive and we were able to share valuable insights. This is an opportunity for us to listen to the actions ACE has undertaken in the recent months and more excitedly its plans for the future."

Lesley Gannon, Deputy General Secretary of The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, said: "The Writers' Guild of Great Britain is proud to have supported the Women in Theatre research project and is looking forward to hearing what action Arts Council England is planning to take to address the under-representation of women in the arts."

Maureen Beattie, former President of Equity and President at the time of the Women in Theatre 5 year research project said: "As Shakespeare said, "There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." This latest invitation to meet with ACE feels like the tide in the affairs of women may finally be about to turn!"

The group also wrote on December 4th 2023 to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to request a meeting to discuss how best to request a government inquiry into the under-representation of women across all arts forms (including those areas not covered by Arts Council England such as film and television which The Writers' Guild amongst other partners has researched extensively) but have received no reply.

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