Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company Earns Recognition For Efforts Toward Gender Equity In Theatre

For the third time in four years, Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company (MU) has been received the 50/50 Applause Award by the International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP). The Award recognizes theaters that strive for gender equity in theatre by producing plays written in equal measure by women and men.

Mildred's Umbrella was one of 103 nominated theaters of which only 62 qualified for the award. According to ICWP, in order to qualify, at least half of the mainstage plays produced by a theater in a single season must be written by women. Additionally, the theater must produce at least three mainstage productions and include plays by both men and women in their season.

As the only theater in the greater Houston area specifically dedicated to promoting gender equity in theater, MU has won the award twice before, in 2014 and 2017. The company consistently produces new works by women playwrights and is committed to increasing the number of produced plays by women in American theatre.

According to "The Count," a compilation of three years' worth of data by The Lilly Awards and The Dramatists Guild, as of 2015 only 22% of the plays produced in the United States were written by women. The impact of this disparity is that women's stories are not being heard as much as those of men, which perpetuates longstanding gender discrimination that makes the abusive actions by people like Harvey Weinstein and others acceptable.

"The #metoo movement has galvanized women to reclaim their voices and refuse to be silenced, said Managing Director Rebecca Ayres. "MU stands with them and all marginalized people in claiming a space in our culture. As a theater, we think this is so important to our community and we are proud to have been recognized again by ICWP." Artistic Director Jennifer Decker added, "We're continuing this parity work into our next season with two Houston premieres both written by women, plus a series of readings highlighting women's issues. It's exciting to be on the cutting edge of change in our field and we are so grateful to our Houston community for their support in this."

More information about Mildred's Umbrella's 2018-19 season can be found on their website: www.midlredsumbrella.com.

ICWP started in 1988 with a mission to support women playwrights worldwide and bring attention to their work. The ICWP 50/50 Applause Awards were founded in 2012 to increase awareness and applaud theaters that produced a season with an equal or greater number of plays written by female playwrights.

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