Women In Theatre Festival Set For Next Month

The Women in Theatre Lab, lead on the five year Women in Theatre research project, and Jermyn Street Theatre have announced the Women in Theatre Festival, a new biennial festival celebrating, supporting and amplifying women's voices in theatre.

The festival follows the announcement that Arts Council England have agreed to set up a year long task force to investigate the under-representation of and discrimination against women in the arts as a result of the Women in Theatre research project, which was led by the Women in Theatre Lab and run in partnership with The Writers' Guild of Great Britain, Equity, WOW, Sphinx, ERA 50: 50, Black Womxn in Theatre, PiPA and other partners.

The Women in Theatre Festival will take place from 21st - 23rd September 2025 at the Jermyn Street Theatre, the West End's studio theatre and home of the Women in Theatre Lab, and will include a discussion of Arts Council England's new task force.

Speakers at the discussion on the Arts Council's task force will include representatives from the five year Women in Theatre research project plus theatre leaders including Stella Powell-Jones, Artistic Director at Jermyn Street Theatre, Kate McGrath, Artistic Director of Fuel, Kate Wasserberg, Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, Pooja Gai and Valerie Synmoie, Artistic Director and Executive Director of Tamasha Theatre Company, and Tommo Fowler, New Works Associate at Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.

Speakers will share information on the task force and discuss best practice and ideas for how we can better support women in theatre. Attendees will leave with information on the task force, a toolkit of best practice for supporting women in theatre, and have had a chance to share ideas which will be passed on to the Arts Council task force.

Other events at the Women in Theatre Festival will include an online workshop for female playwrights, offering writing and industry advice, which is free to past applicants to the Women in Theatre Lab and online in order to allow as many female playwrights as possible from across the UK to attend.

The festival will conclude with the Women in Theatre Lab showcase, showcasing the first cohort of the Women in Theatre Lab as some of the most talented female playwrights in the UK: Titilola Dawudu, Sumerah Srivastav, Karis Kelly, Naomi Sumner Chan, Rafaella Marcus, Charlotte Small, Elle Van Lil, Millie Bloom, Nina Berry, Emma Baim, Melanie Pennant, Racheal Ofori, Ginni Manning, and Lucie Lovatt.

The Women in Theatre Lab, the new UK version of US and Australian models, received nearly 1000 applications for its first year from emerging and mid-career playwrights and the showcase is the culmination of the Women in Theatre Festival. Applications for the next cohort of the new UK version of US and Australian models will open later this year following the festival.

Co-Director of the Women in Theatre Lab and lead on the five year Women in Theatre research project Jennifer Tuckett said: "We can't wait to showcase the talented emerging and mid-career writers from the first year of the Women in Theatre Lab as well as discuss the new Arts Council task force which is being set up as a result of the final meetings between ACE and the Women in Theatre research project. We hope the new festival will help celebrate, support and amplify women in theatre's voices at a time when research shows that post-pandemic 60% of women working in theatre have considered leaving working in theatre and only 6% of women in theatre feel opportunities have improved for women on areas such as childcare, the gender pay gap and discrimination in the workplace despite pandemic promises."

Artistic Director of the Jermyn Street Theatre Stella Powell-Jones said: "We're thrilled to be a partner on the Women in Theatre Lab. The U.S. and Australia both show what meaningful progress pipeline programmes like this can make to achieve gender parity on stage. This programme couldn't be off to a stronger start than with these extraordinary writers. We can't wait to see what comes next!"

Further information and how to book tickets can be found on the Jermyn Street Theatre and Women in Theatre Lab websites.