THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE: Women in Arizona Theatre

APPLICATION NARRATIVE
a) The Bridge Initiative will provide a platform to unite and promote female theatre artists, students
through professionals, and strengthen our community in Arizona, both now and into the future by directly
addressing the issue of gender disparity.
b) There is a great gender disparity in the theatre. The Bridge Initiative is designed to ask why this
important art form, instrumental in holding up the mirror to our society, is so underrepresented by the
women who live in it. A disproportionate number of theatre graduates are female (61% according to the
Association for Theatre in Higher Education), yet when those women look at the landscape, from
community to professional, the numbers are not comparable. With the number of degrees being awarded
to women, it could also be expected that more women would continue to dominate in the field beyond
graduation, but this is far from the truth. We would love for Arizona to buck this trend! Our research has
shown that there is a strong history of women in leadership roles in the Valley. But when we looked at 14
representative organizations today (youth theatre, community theatre, and professional theatres including
the largest theatrical organization in the state: Arizona Theatre Company), the leadership positions were
held by 18 men and only 6 women. The Bridge Initiative aims to address the gender disparity in our state
by providing a bridge for students to the broader theatrical community as well as providing opportunities
for women at every stage of their craft to engage with each other.
Our first step, already in progress, is to have conversations with women across the Arizona theatre
community, including playwrights, directors, designers, producers, and actors. We have launched a
survey (33 respondents so far) to generate data about artists' experience, needs, and outlook. These
efforts are raising topics (such as pay rates, script selection, number of female characters in produced
plays, and stereotypes being perpetuated) that will develop into panel discussions and outreach to the
press over the coming months in order to educate the community and raise awareness. We will award a
Bridge Director and a Bridge Playwright of the Year, and these awards will be juried by a hand-selected
panel of female artists in our state. The Bridge's efforts will culminate in a symposium in June, hosted by
Mesa Encore Theatre, at which scholars, teachers, students, and professionals will have opportunities to
interact, network, and develop mentoring relationships through classes, rehearsals, and seminars and
internships. There will be public-facing events too, including panel discussions, readings of new work
(both complete plays and snippets of works-in-progress), and the fully-produced Southwestern premiere
performance of a play written by our Bridge Playwright of the Year, directed by our Bridge Director of
the Year.
c) Producing partners Tracy Liz Miller and Brenda Jean Foley, as well as Mesa Encore Theatre, have
established reputations and relationships in the Valley and beyond. Because of Tracy and Brenda's
relative newcomer status, they are able to ask questions and bring an outsider perspective to the status
quo, which can be a great asset. But in their short time in the Valley, they have also established
reputations of their own with critical acclaim for their work and personal respect from their peers, which
will serve them in good stead as leaders of this venture.
Tracy Liz Miller teaches Acting and Cinema Studies at Chandler-Gilbert Community College as well as
pursuing freelance acting and directing projects. She continues to serve as an Associate Producer of
Vermont Shakespeare Company in development, strategic planning, and consulting. She most recently
played Titania/Hippolyta in FairyWorlds! with Southwest Shakespeare Company at the Desert Botanical
Gardens in Phoenix. In June, Tracy directed a staged reading of a new play, How the World Began by
Catherine Trieschmann, for WAMTheatre of Western Mass. Last fall she directed The 12 Dates of
Christmas by Ginna Hoben with Class 6 Theatre in Mesa, Selected acting credits: Dora in The Swan by
Elizabeth Egloff (Chester Theatre Company), Molly in Dusk Rings a Bell by Stephen Belber (Shaker
Bridge Theatre), Desdemona in Othello (NorthEast Shakespeare Ensemble), Julius Caesar in Julius

THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE: Women in Arizona Theatre

Caesar (Tennessee Shakespeare Co.), Tekla in The Creditors (Miscreant Theatre Co, NYC), Hanna Jelkes
in The Night of the Iguana (Penobscot Theatre), Sophia Hawthorne in The Kracken (Push Productions,
NYC), Viola in Twelfth Night (Improbable Fiction, NYC). Additional NYC directing credits: Titus
Andronicus (Improbable Fiction), Italian American Reconciliation (33 Productions), Richmond Shephard
One-Act Festival. She has a BFA in Music Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University and
an MFA in Acting from Alabama Shakespeare Festival/University of Alabama.
Brenda Jean Foley is a three-year resident of the state, having moved to Tempe with her husband, Brian,
who completed his MFA in Directing at ASU, and their now-four-year-old daughter, Robyn. Brenda has
performed with iTheatre Collaborative (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark), Mesa Encore Theatre (August:
Osage County and The Full Monty), and the Don Bluth Front Row Theatre (The Sound of Music). She is
now serving on the board of the Mesa Encore Theatre and has started a monthly play-reading series.
Previously, Brenda resided in New York City for over a decade, performing off- and off-off-Broadway, on
tour, in regional theatre, and internationally. While in New York, she founded a theatre company, the
Cockeyed Optimists, who were the first to revive John Cariani's Almost, Maine in NYC. Also a writer,
her screenplays have placed in national contests, and she wrote the book and contributed lyrics to an
original musical, To Find Happy, which was part of the Emerging Artists Theatre New Works Festival in
2013. She has a BFA in Musical Theatre and a BA in English from the University of Michigan.
Mesa Encore Theatre (MET) has been a cornerstone of the arts experience in the Valley for more than 75
years and is the oldest continually-operating community theatre in the state. MET has won many awards
both local and national. Last season, it launched its new Black Box on Brown venue in Mesa, created in
part to host ventures like The Bridge Initiative. MET's mission is to bring the fun and excitement of live
theatre to the community with integrity and dedication to excellence.
d) Innovation. The Bridge Initiative is original in its scope and reach, as well as its focus on female
theatre artists of all disciplines. Based on our research, no one is really talking about gender disparity,
and we aim to change that with public conversations instead of private whispers. So many women who
graduate with acting degrees have trouble crossing into other theatrical disciplines. What is happening in
the years when new theatre artists are experimenting and defining their aesthetic and interests and
acquiring the skills and experiences that will turn them into future leaders? What is happening in the
years when an actor first learns how to teach, a designer learns how to balance the books, and a director
works on their first play? We believe a key component and missing piece to the gender disparity
conversation involves helping students and even current practitioners envision their ongoing and evolving
role in the theatrical community. Emerging artists need to be connected with mentors who will nurture
their talents and aspirations and help them understand the rigors and skills they need to succeed. Also, to
be clear: We embrace male artists and seek to engage with, not against, them. The Bridge Initiative will
identify and give voice to women, not eclipse men, whom we love and need in the theatre and life! A
one-sided conversation about gender is, by definition, incomplete.
e) Responsiveness. We see a very real need to address the issue of gender disparity in the theatre, and
90% of our survey respondents agree. Our market is three-fold: 1) Female theatre practitioners of all
disciplines, including students. 2) Theatre producers who may not be acquainted with the breadth of
female talent in Arizona. 3) The audience, whom we aim to educate and engage so they understand the
issue and know how to express their support. We are in communication with many established Arizona
artists (including actress/educator Bonnie Eckard at ASU, playwright Elaine Romero at U of A,
community theatre actress/director Janis Ash Webb, artistic director and musical director Debra Jo Davey,
cross-disciplinary theatre leader Elaine EE Moe) and we are confident our network will continue to
grow and be full of strong, diverse, and passionate women (and men). These individuals are expressing a
desire for greater representation and voice (for example, the Pandora Festival celebrates women in
Arizona theatre, but focuses on playwrights and directors), and our choice of plays for the

THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE: Women in Arizona Theatre

readings/production in June will directly address that concern. They are also raising issues that we will
address in panel discussions, such as whether theatre students should leave Arizona upon graduation or
whether our community can support their artistic pursuits. 14 of 18 educators in our survey feel there is a
need for a stronger bridge from academia to the professional world in Arizona.
f) Impact. The potential for The Bridge is tremendous. By creating a network and support system, we
will foster the artists of the future and grow the community through mentor relationships and models in
all areas of the field. The impact can be long-reaching and could change the landscape for years to come.
For example, if graduating female students and emerging artists choose to remain in Arizona and become
leaders, and eventually mentors in their turn, the gender disparity at all levels of theatre organizations can
easily be transformed to gender equality over time.
In the immediate term, creating bridges between female artists will organically open opportunities to
individuals who may not have known to ask for them or may not have been seen as eligible without these
newly formed relationships. Also, the fully-produced play as well as readings we plan to present will
introduce Arizona producers to the work of female playwrights and directors who may not have been on
their radar, which can only help programming choices to reflect women's work in future seasons. This is
absolutely achievable through the snowball effect of community building. The impact will be visible to
our market and the community at large as female names and voices start to be counted equally in theatres
across the state.
g) The difference between $10,000 and $4,000 would ultimately be the level of professionalism for the
culminating inaugural annual symposium.
$10,000 award:
Playwright of the Year and Director of the Year monetary awards
Fully-produced production written by Bridge Playwright of the Year, directed by Bridge
Director of the Year
Broader selection of plays can be considered for full production (cast size, scenic requirements,
period setting, etc.)
Designer stipends and actor stipends
Transportation costs for playwright
Per diem costs for playwright and artistic team
Rental costs for space
Production costs: props, costumes, set, lighting, sound
Publicity and marketing costs
Broad array of accompanying programming such as discussion panels with esteemed
practitioners, staged readings of works in development, kick-off networking and celebration
event, master classes, workshops
$4,000 award:
Playwright of the Year and Director of the Year (smaller) monetary awards
Down-scaled fully-produced production by Bridge Playwright of the Year, directed by Bridge
Director of the Year
Play selection for full production potentially more limited by fiscal constraints
Limited production budget (mostly borrowed stock) for props, costumes, set, lighting, sound
Less funds for publicity and marketing
Donated time from all involved artists
Downsized accompanying programming: discussion panels, staged readings of works in
development, donated educational offerings

THE BRIDGE INITIATIVE: Women in Arizona Theatre

Limited rental funds available, constraining length and amount of programming