Women’s Caucus
About
PGC’s Women’s Caucus was established to meet the particular needs of women playwrights. Overseen by a volunteer committee, the Women’s Caucus meets in person on an annual basis, and it stays in contact with its members throughout the year with a monthly Women’s Caucus Newsletter, a closed Facebook group, and the occasional online meeting.
Committee
Kelley Jo Burke
Chair
Rebecca Burton
Staff Liaison
Joanna Falck
Rachel Mutombo
Carolyn Nakagawa
Programs & Activities
The Women’s Caucus undertakes various activities and programs to assist its members, to enhance diversity and gender equity. These include:
PLEDGE
An acronym for a “Production Listing to Enhance Diversity and Gender Equity,” PLEDGE is a fully searchable database of large cast plays (6 characters or more) by Canadian women, two-spirit, trans, and non-binary folks. It provides resources to help improve the number of women playwrights (only 18%!) and other underrepresented voices produced on the mainstages of Canada’s post-secondary training institutions. Pledge aims to raise awareness and increase the representation of women and racialized communities in theatre programs all across the nation and beyond. There are over 500 plays to choose from!
To learn more, visit the PLEDGE website.
SureFire
SureFire is a community-generated resource inspired by the Kilroys; an American group that produces an annual catalogue of high-quality, un-produced and/or under-produced plays by women, non-binary, and trans folks to help redress marginalization. For our Canadian rendition, theatre aficionados (or “Recommenders”) across the nation are nominated by PGC’s Staff, Women’s Caucus Committee, and members, and they are asked to submit their top three “passion picks” for under- or un-produced plays by Canadian women, two spirit, trans, and non-binary creators. We gather the results, tabulate the findings, and release SureFire biennially to provide the industry with a valuable resource and “sure-fire” means to help identify new and remarkable, production-ready plays.
SureFire 2025 has been presented in partnership with Centre des auteurs dramatiques as a special Francophone edition.
You can read the 2025 English version HERE and the 2025 French version HERE.
See PGC’s special 50th anniversary edition of SureFire 2022 HERE.
View the SureFire 2020 results HERE.
View the SureFire 2018 results HERE.
Artistic Director Interviews
PGC’s Women’s Caucus members have volunteered their time throughout the years to conduct interviews with Artistic Directors (ADs) to gain insider scoops and best practice tips for making play submissions to theatres. Statistically, women tend not to submit their work to theatres as often as men, so these interviews are intended to bolster confidence and inspire submissions. Published interviews can be viewed in their respective years below.
Production Surveys
PGC has been conducting annual Gender-Based Production Surveys since 2012. For each season, PGC counts up all the productions staged by professional theatres in Canada (festivals excluded) in order to assess the overall number of productions, the gender of the plays’ authors (man; woman; two-spirit, trans, or non-binary; and mixed groups), and the number of Canadian works. This accounting allows to track changes over time in relation to gender representation and Canadian content, both regionally and nationally. You can find all currently published surveys below:
CASA Award
The CASA Award was a Canadian and South African partnership of the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Women’s Caucus and the African Women Playwrights Network. Started in 2017, the CASA Award supported an experienced, woman-identifying playwright living in South Africa by providing her with funding, writing space, directorial assistance, and dramaturgical mentorship.
CASA wrapped in 2023, and during its course, the Award supported seven extraordinary and gifted women: Rehane Abrahams, Genna Gardini, Kela Griot (formerly Maswabi), Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni, Koleka Putuma, Tamara Guhrs Schulz, and Philisiwe Twijnstra.
Learn more about the award, its recipients, and their work on the CASA Award’s Facebook page.
A short documentary film titled Time to Dream was made to mark the end of CASA, which explores the inspirations and challenges South African women playwrights face, as told through the stories of three CASA Award winning playwrights: Rehane Abrahams, Tamara Guhrs Schulz, and Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni. The film is directed by South African filmmaker Dominique Jossie, and it was released on International Women’s Day, March 8th, 2023. Watch it now below!
Bra d’Or Award
The Women’s Caucus administered PGC’s annual Bra d’Or Award, recognizing a theatre professional for their support of women playwrights. The award went on hiatus in 2017, was merged with the Tom Hendry Awards and relaunched in 2019 on International Women’s Day. 2023 marked the final year for the Bra D’Or Award.
Reflection Pieces
Women’s Caucus members offered up their thoughts, writing “Reflection Pieces” about PGC for our 50th anniversary in 2022 (these were originally included in the Women’s Caucus Newsletter). Playwrights Anna Fuerstenberg and Mary Humphrey Baldridge gave us a look back in time to the ’70s and ’80s in their pieces Early Years & It’s Personal, respectively, while Lezlie Wade provided a more contemporary response to the question, in What PGC Means to Me. The final piece by Trudee Romanek, 28 Plays Later, reflects on her writing 28 plays in 28 days during February.
Equity in Theatre
In existence from 2014 – 2017, EIT was a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at remedying gender and other related inequities in the theatre industry. Through a multi-pronged, intersectional, and inclusive response involving the community as a whole (artists, stakeholders, and audiences), EIT promoted dialogue, generated greater awareness of and exposure to women theatre practitioners, and developed community-based action plans to help redress industry imbalances. Projects included a 2015 gender-based research study of the industry with recommendations, an sectoral Symposium, a Conference with American groups, a dedicated website with various resources, and live social events, such as play readings, discussion panels, hackathons, and more.
To learn more, visit the EIT website.
If you have questions about the Women’s Caucus, a project that you think we should consider, or if you would like to become more actively involved, email the Staff Liaison at membership@playwrightsguild.ca