Contact Us

The Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative is a grassroots movement that is constantly evolving.  So we welcome – no, we need – your ideas and involvement.

“Yard Sale Signs” by Jennie Webb (photo by John Flynn)

And please help spread the word about what were doing and where to find us: lafpi.com


LAFPI Spotlight

Here are some words from playwright-activist Julia Jordan, on the movement to achieve gender parity for theater artists and and activities in New York (2010).

From the beginning, I’ve been amazed by the amount of energy and the number of voices that have lent themselves to addressing the lack of female written plays on our stages.  I firmly believe that the next step in the fight is to include directors, designers, choreographers, composers and importantly actresses in the effort, as we are all affected.  The bias is across the board.  We prove each other’s cases.  We also create work for one another.

I recently read that cognitive psychologists do not like the word “bias.”  They prefer to call the phenomena “predictable cognitive errors.” Theaters that show bias are making errors in artistic and financial judgement.   The behavior has been documented in field after field.  It is a human problem.  But it can be addressed.

We had a huge rise in the number of productions by women this year in NYC as compared to last.  A far higher percentage of those female written plays were hits than those their male counterparts.  This is to be expected.  It doesn’t mean women are better writers, it means that there is a backlog of superior work by women that has not yet been tapped into yet, where as the male written plays have been far more combed over.   When theaters realize the errors they have been making in programing have lowered their chances of success….  They will change their habits.   They also need to realize that if audiences have a bias, it is in favor of work about women. That’s all we need to do, show them the error of their ways.

Julia Jordan

Click here to read Discrimination and the Female Playwright, co-authored by Jordan with playwright Sheri Wilner, used with permission from The Dramatists Guild.

15 thoughts on “Contact Us

  1. I have a play running right now for 3 more performances as part of LA Theater Festival. “Trouble Dolls (The Limo Driver”) and it is getting great response but so hard to get an audience and impossible to get reviewed. I am so glad to discover this organization and hope people will see my play! Ru y Theater at the Complex. Latheaterfestival.com for details.

  2. Hi!
    My name is Megan Cavallari and I am a composer. I write for TV, features and theatre.
    We are so underrepresented we are not even in the data on women in theatre and Hollywood. Do you ever consider musicals?
    Thank you,
    Megan

    1. Hey Megan! LA FPI isn’t a producing organization, so if by “do you ever consider” you’re talking a production… can’t help you there. But we’d love to find a way to connect you to theatermakers and women theater artists. Are you on our mailing list?

  3. Looking forward to meeting some talented, women in the business. Been looking for something like this. I will be at Samuel French Bookshop on July 20th.

    Can’t wait! 🙂

    Pauline Anne
    Actress/writer

  4. Just moved to LA last wednesday…yay
    Look forward to receiving info @ events and gatherings
    business meetings – love to participate
    Best
    Ann
    Ann P Meredith
    Playwright/Director/Producder

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