Five BC Theatres Among Honourees of International Award Recognizing Gender Parity In Productions

Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre, Mitch and Murray Productions, Pacific Theatre, and shameless hussy productions as well as Victoria's Castlereigh Theatre Project have been named recipients of the 2016 International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Award.

The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) reported that a record-breaking number of recipients will receive the 2016 50/50 Applause Awards, which recognizes theatres that produced 50% or more women playwrights in their 2015/16 season of shows. ICWP defines 50/50 by the number of qualifying performances in a theatre’s season, which allows a concrete measurement of the resources being devoted to women playwrights.

107 recipients in ten countries on five continents are being recognized in 2016. The list includes theatres in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. Approximately 32% of the theatres are repeat recipients, demonstrating gender parity in two or more seasons. A full list of recipients can be found on the ICWP website here.