The Stage

Women’s roles in the arts

Published Thursday 26 January 2012 at 12:50

I really welcome Jo Caird’s article (The Stage, January 19, page 10) challenging the industry to find ways to help raise more women into top jobs in the arts.

In a conversation with Arts Council England’s Barbara Matthews during Equity’s Annual Representative Conference last May I bemoaned the fact that the casting opportunities for actresses in the subsidised sector were woeful in comparison with actors. She cited the classical cannon as being the main problem but also remarked that times had changed since there were so many female artistic directors in the north.

Sadly, when this was checked by the Equity Women’s Committee later in the year they found nine women directors north of, and including, Watford - out of 37 companies, this is less than 25%. Also there was only one, Josie Rourke, in charge of any of the main 14 London producing houses. That brings the percentage overall to under 20%. Any seeming improvements are so fragile. It is also true that when the number of females does increase, the perception is always of more women than there actually are - it is such a novelty.

There are many economic and social factors which continue to contribute to the dearth of proper female influence in the arts and Jo Caird is asking for the industry to take note and help to implement a balance which better reflects society norms.

She is fully aware of the International Federation of Actors’ Age, Gender and Performer Employment in Europe report which underpins all of Equity’s campaigning on the subject. Since that report was produced in 2009, a handbook is now available showing good practices from around Europe, put together to engender change. If only we could put some of them into practice over here.

In the handbook there is reference to the research done by many organisations in this country but little or nothing with regard to actions. It is primarily in Scandinavia where most progress has been made to encourage and support women in leadership education (Sweden), in training women for top management jobs in theatre, music, dance, film and TV (Norway), but also elsewhere in Slovenia adopting a gender sensitive management style in theatres.

Many women move from working in theatre to management jobs in television when they decide to have babies. A nine to five schedule is more conducive to family life. Actresses, too - if they want to continue working - have an agonising job making arrangements for children to be babysat. I missed precious weeks of my son’s early development when I went up to York to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, leaving him back at home with a friend. Many of my contemporaries chose to remain childless or reluctantly had to leave the business.

Yet despite these female life and work sacrifices, the total of what we see onstage does not truly represent society’s fifty-fifty gender split. All one can conclude is that men who are in the top jobs are making choices which consciously, or unconsciously, censor female images, particularly as women age.

So Jo Caird is absolutely right. Something must be done. What could undoubtedly help would be for the Theatrical Management Association and the Arts Council England to work with Equity to find ways of setting up similar training schemes as in other European countries. Perhaps we could then see an increase rather than a decline in female contributions in the UK. No-one is pretending that there are not some wonderful productions in the subsidised sector, but an even richer output could be had if female talent both behind and on the stage was not allowed to fade away.

It would also help if the arts councils actively promoted gender equality to all their funding recipients. Fine words in documents are not enough, there is a problem and it is time it was addressed.

Jean Rogers

Equity vice president

Eastergate

Chichester