Apr. 11: 365 WOMEN A YEAR: A PLAYWRITING PROJECT at The Sheen Center in New York

This international playwriting project involves over 200 playwrights who have signed on to write one or more one-acts about extraordinary women in both past and present history. The project’s ambitious yet focused goal is to write women back into the social consciousness as well as empower and promote female playwrights around the country.

What seemed like an unattainable goal became a reality when Jess Eisenberg decided that she couldn’t do a project this size alone.  She brought on her dear friend, Gina Scanlon, and together they began to write.  After some small scale calls for playwrights, the numbers quickly grew and grew. The dedicated playwrights plan to continue this project every year, with a new list of 365 women in history.

FOUNDER:

Jess Eisenberg grew up playing piano pieces written exclusively by white men, going to see plays exclusively by white men, and wondering in history class ‘where are all the women and people of color who did incredible things?’  It is incomprehensible that in 2015 we are still asking where all the women are or if there’s anyone other than white men who have written or composed.  After co-founding Prologue Theatre Company in Chicago, Jess researched for a season based on female painters in history.  There was a profound sense of loss.  Our canon is a lie, when the names and works of so many are lost to us forever.  She knew she had to keep writing about all of these women, thus in 2014 this project was born.  Close friend and colleague, Gina Scanlon, quickly joined the fold and helped co-found the projects as it is today.  They never could have imagined that number of playwrights who would join the mission in such a short amount of time.  There are now hundreds of playwrights from around the world writing pieces and 365 is in its second year.

CO-FOUNDER:

Gina Scanlon met Jess in high school where they both studied theatre, and they’ve been close friends ever since. Gina discovered the amazing playwright Tina Howe in high school, and Painting Churches was the first play she ever read by a woman, which were, and still are, few and far between! She studied Film at the University of Central Florida and earned a Masters in scriptwriting at the University of London soon after. She has had plays produced in both London and New York, and has a few screenwriting projects in the works. Gina is very passionate about empowering female voices, and being part of the gender and minority shift in media representation. She currently produces and edits digital/social media content for BBC AMERICA in New York, and somehow got put in charge of the world’s most renowed car show, yet knows nothing about cars. Don’t tellTop Gear fans! You can follow her on Twitter @JeanGina3D.

INTERESTED PLAYWRIGHTS: Check out the 2015 INFO page!!!  If you are a brand new playwright wanting to write a piece for the project, the first step is searching the alphabetical pages to make sure you choose a woman who has not yet been picked.  The woman must have 100% existed and may be living or dead.  For more information join the Facebook page or email 365womenayear@gmail.com.  The first step is filling out a claim form: CLAIM REQUEST FORM

INTERESTED DIRECTORS: Currently compiling information for female directors around the world in hopes to promote 50/50 by 2020.  If you would like your information listed on their future female directors page, please email 365womenayear@gmail.com with DIRECTOR in the subject line, your bio in the body, the region/country you usually work in, and your resume attached. The page should be live by March!

INTERESTED IN PRODUCING ONE OR MORE OF THE PIECES: please email 365womenayear@gmail.com with the historical woman and the playwright in the subject line. (If you are interested in many, just put ‘Production Interest’ in the subject line and list the pieces in the body of the email.)

If you are an interested theater, publisher, actor, or news source…. please email 365womenayear@gmail.com

This program is part of the SWAN Day festivities. For reservations, click here for tickets.