Cheryl Davis and Jacquelyn Reingold, Executive Committee members of Honor Roll!, an advocacy and action group of women+ playwrights over forty — and women+ over 40 allies, have launched the 50 Plays by Women+ Over 50 list. This of list of 50 Plays by Women+ Over 50 is for producers, theater artists, and more.
They released a statement, sharing, “We invited about 180 theater artists to nominate unproduced full-length plays they were passionate about, by under-recognized women+ over 50. No playwright could suggest their own play. And the two of us did not nominate any plays. We got about 125 titles from about 60 Nominators. (Yes that means 120 people did not respond to multiple emails.) Produced plays, younger writers, and one-acts were removed. We asked every playwright if they wanted to be on a list of under-recognized writers over 50. A few never wrote back. A couple said their plays weren’t ready. Some did not want to be on the list; they believed being known to be “over 50” would hurt their careers. Some were even told not to participate.
In the end, we had 100 play titles by 93 writers. Though our original idea was a list of 50, we couldn’t bear to remove any plays, so we didn’t. There will be two lists of 50 plays, 6 months apart. We are thrilled to, finally, present the first list.”
The featured plays include “Rock On” by Jeannie Barroga, “Bunk Johnson…a Blues Poem” by Ifa Bayeza, “Kate Suspended” by Neena Beber, “NightWoodsHole” by Kate Benson, “Sizzle Sizzle Fly” by Susan Bernfield, “Wherever You Go” by Elizabeth Canavan, “Colossus” by June Carryl, “The Misopeds” by Catherine Castellani, “Kitchen Table” by Eugenie Chan, “Heirloom” by Karen Chilton, “The Adventures of Pussy Jones” by Gab Cody, “Hotel Limbo” by Alice Eve Cohen, “Ann, Fran, Mary Ann” by Erin Courtney, “The Wild Inside” by Cusi Cram, “Satryricoño” by Migdalia Cruz, “Helene” by Lisa D’Amour, “Professor Sycorax” by Cheryl Davis, “A Little Bit of Forever” by Jeanne Dorsey, “Pennsylvania Avenue” by Susan Ferrara, “Man & Wife” by Emma Goldman-Sherman, “A Comfortable Life” by Pamela Weiler Grayson, “Tongue Tied and Delivered” by Kirsten Greenidge, “Pieces of a Pandemic” by Anita Hollander, “Oh, I Remember the Black Birch” by Velina Hasu Houston, “Invisible Ink” by Christine Toy Johnson, “Timebomb” by Carson Kreitzer, “Aretha and the G-Man” by Mildred Inez Lewis, “Trial by Water” by Joan Mathieu, “A Map of Doubt and Rescue” by Susan Miller, “Else & Henry” by Puy Navarro, “Interior of the Artist Without Her Sister” by Masha Obolensky, “Early Sunday Morning” by Dara O’Brien, “Salvage” by Mary Lynn Owen, “Bones” by Deepa Purohit, “Fear Less” by Jacquelyn Reingold, “The Loves of My Life” by Carmen Rivera, “The Ushers” by Lynn Rosen, “The Boy King in Queens” by Tammy Ryan, “Allowance” by Deborah Savadge, “Roe V. Wade” by Sarah Schulman, “Squirrels on a Wheel” by SM Shepard-Massat, “Old Bat” by Ellen Struve, “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” by Tracy Thorne, “Scene Study 1969” by Kathleen Tolan, “Cock’s Crow” by Alice Tuan, “Blue Paris Blues” by T. Tara Turk-Haynes, “Heirs of Cedar Branch” by Celeste Bedford Walker, “Women, Birds, Stars” by Jennie Webb, “@YLS” by Elizabeth Wong, and “Tiny Houses” by Stefanie Zadravec.
For more information: https://www.50playsbywomenover50.com/
