The Kilroys' List

The Kilroys' List[1] is a gender parity initiative to end the "systematic underrepresentation of female and trans playwrights" in the American theater industry.[2] Gender disparity is defined as the gap of unproduced playwrights' whose plays are being discriminated against based on the writer's gender identification and intersectional identities of race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, and ability. Recent statistical research released in November 2015, entitled The Count, gathered that 22% of total surveyed professional productions from 2011-2013 annual seasons were written by women playwrights, 3.8% of the total were written by women playwrights of color, and 0.4% of the total were written by foreign women playwrights of color.[3] 78% of total surveyed professional productions were written by men playwrights.[3]

First released in June 2014, the list is an annual collection of highly recommended contemporary plays written by female and trans* authors, which are read or seen by an industry professional within the last twelve months. The list was established by The Kilroys, a group of Los Angeles-based female-identified playwrights and producers who were tired of their plays remaining unproduced while artistic directors claimed "We chose the best plays" for their theater companies' annual seasons.[4] The namesake of The Kilroys originated from the World War II graffiti tag, "Kilroy Was Here."[5] The tagline for The Kilroys is "We Make Trouble and Plays."[6] The founding Kilroys members were: Zakiyyah Alexander,[7] Bekah Brunstetter, Sheila Callaghan,[8] Carla Ching,[9] Annah Feinberg,[10] Sarah Gubbins,[11] Laura Jacqmin,[12] Chelsea Marcantel,[13] Joy Meads, Kelly Miller, Meg Miroshnik,[14] Daria Polatin, Tanya Saracho,[15] and Marisa Wegrzyn.

In 2018, The Kilroys passed the baton from the founding members to a "new class" of 14 radical theatremakers composed of writers, producers and directors Jaclyn Backhaus, Hilary Bettis, Jennifer Chambers, Claudia de Vasco, Emma Goidel, Christina Ham, Jessica Hanna, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Obehi Janice, Hansol Jung, Chelsea Marcantel, Caroline V. McGraw, Bianca Sams, and Gina Young.[16]

In 2014 the list featured the Top 46, a collection of 46 plays highly recommended by selected Nominators. The Nominators consisted of a number of contemporary theater artists and administrators currently working in the theater industry.[17]

The 2015 List: The top 7% featured 53 plays.

  1. ^ "The Kilroys".
  2. ^ "The Kilroys". The Kilroys. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The Kilroys Were Here: Moving Female Playwrights into Production". HowlRound. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  5. ^ Healy, Patrick (2014-06-16). "Group Called the Kilroys Releases List of Plays by Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  6. ^ "The Kilroys". The Kilroys. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  7. ^ "Zakiyyah Alexander". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  8. ^ "Sheila Callaghan". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  9. ^ "Carla Ching". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  10. ^ "Annah Feinberg". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  11. ^ "Sarah Gubbins". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  12. ^ "Laura Jacqmin". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  13. ^ Tran, Diep (2018-12-11). "The Kilroys Welcome New Members". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  14. ^ "Meg Miroshnik". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  15. ^ "Tanya Saracho". New Play Exchange. National New Play Network.
  16. ^ Tran, Diep (2018-12-11). "The Kilroys Welcome New Members". American Theatre Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  17. ^ Healy, Patrick (2014-06-16). "Group Called the Kilroys Releases List of Plays by Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-11-11.