Celebrating Women in Theatre

3 Women in Theatre to Remember this Women’s History Month

From acting, writing, producing, and teaching, women have made a profound impact on theatre. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’d like to talk about a few women who did amazing things in their theatre careers.

These women helped shape our imagination and establish the ways we do theater and film today. We remember them for their skill and tenacity, and how their work has continued to make us laugh, sing, think, and consider.

Cheryl Crawford - Teacher & Producer

Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director. In 1931, she helped found the Group Theater in New York City, where she trained a group of young actors and helped select and produce the group’s plays.

The Group helped establish the theory known as “method acting,” which is still respected and observed today. They also helped many actors, directors, and playwrights make their start, including actor Lee J. Cobb, actress and acting teacher Stella Adler, and playwright Lee Strasberg.

In 1947, Cheryl founded The Actor’s Studio, which provided training for actors. The Actor’s Studio is still active today, and is a renowned group that has trained many of America’s most respected actors, including Marlon Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Al Pacino, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, and many more.

Cheryl was inducted to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1979.

Lorraine Hansberry - Playwright and Creative

Lorraine Hansberry was the first African-American woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Her play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) earned her the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award at age 29. A Raisin in the Sun tells the tale of a Black American family living in a racially segregated Chicago.

Lorraine was also a passionate and influential voice during the civil rights movement. She is also known as a writer for the newspaper Freedom, which addressed political and social issues affecting African-Americans.

After Lorraine’s death in 1965, her ex-husband and friend Robert Nemiroff produced a Broadway play based on Lorraine’s collected writings called “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.” In 1969, musician Nina Simone wrote a song by the same name in honor of Lorraine Hansberry, which became a beloved anthem for those involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

​Ethel Merman - Actress

Actress Ethel Merman is fondly referred to as the “First Lady of Musical Comedy.” Known for her powerful voice, Merman captivated her audiences for decades. Merman is most remembered for her performances in Anything Goes (1936), Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Gypsy (1959), and Hello, Dolly! (1964).

One fun fact about Ethel Merman is that she began her acting career before microphones were widely used on stage. Most musical theater actors had to get voice lessons to learn how to project for the audience. However, Ethel’s voice could always be heard loud and clear, despite never receiving lessons.

Theatre critic Brooks Atkinson said of Ethel that “she makes a song seem like a spontaneous expression of her personality, which may be regarded as the ultimate skill in the art of singing songs.”

Among many awards and accolades, Merman received:

Appreciating Women in Theater

As a proudly woman-led business, we at Olive Branch would like to encourage everyone to appreciate and study these exceptional women of history. We also want to thank and appreciate the women in our own community who help create the theatre we know and love today.

50 Inclusive Plays to Help You Produce a Diverse Season

Our Curated List of Diversity-Friendly Plays

There are many ways to promote inclusive theater. As a theater company, one way to do this is to select plays that allow for a diverse cast. With this goal in mind, Theater Artist Monica Bowker has shared with us her list of recommended stage plays.

Because these plays remain ambiguous regarding characters’ race and ethnicity, they give theater companies even more space to select a diverse cast. Although some of these dramas have been cast certain ways historically, the scripts and stories themselves are especially well-suited for inclusive casting.

Whether you choose to give a fresh voice to a 17th century drama, or you bring to life a more recent work, we recommend these plays as solid options for anyone looking to support more inclusive theater.

Our List of Inclusive Plays

We hope this list serves as a practical resource for theater companies and directors who are looking for ways to make theater more inclusive. Our goal is to help theater companies find plays—old and new—that provide the flexibility to produce a more diverse theater season.

About the Curator- Monica Bowker

Monica Bowker is a Theatre Artist with a primary focus in Lighting Design. Monica was born and raised in Southern California but she now considers Chico, California her home. She got her BA in Theatre Arts at California State University, Chico, and is currently working on her MFA in Lighting Design at Western Illinois University where she will graduate in May 2023. Monica has produced lighting designs for shows such as Living Dead in Denmark, Avenue Q, The Glass Menagerie, Measure for Measure, Bloomsday, and more. Once Monica has completed her MFA, she plans to teach theatre design at a collegiate level as well as start collaborating with fellow artists on a diversity-minded theatre production company.

5 Black Playwrights to Check out for Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, we’d like to talk about some of the most influential and important black American playwrights. These artists helped shape American theater and left a profound impact on the arts. Whether it’s your first time enjoying, or you’re returning to a favorite classic, go check out these beloved works by some of America’s greatest authors

Aubrey Lyles and Flournoy Miller

Aubrey Lyles and Flournoy Miller (F.E. Miller) were a popular comedic duo between 1905 and 1932. They are considered some of the most important figures in the history of black American musical theater.

Lyles and Miller were childhood friends from Tennessee, who began performing together at an early age. In 1921, Miller’s Broadway show, Shuffle Along, was so popular and long-running that it caused traffic jams on West 63rd St.

In 1923, the duo’s play Runnin' Wild debuted the wildly popular “Charleston” dance and became one of the most popular shows of the decade.

Alice Childress

Alice Childress grew up in Harlem, New York and began her playwriting career in 1949. In her debut play Florence, she also performed the starring role. Childress was the first black woman to have had a play professionally published.

Her 1955 play, Trouble in Mind, won an Obie Award for Best Original Play. In 1973, her young adult novel A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich became widely popular and was adapted into a feature film.

Childress published 15 plays and 5 novels throughout her career, including musical productions that she wrote with her composer husband. She is the only black woman to have written, produced, and published plays for four decades.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was a renowned poet, author, playwright, and social activist. He was one of the most prominent leaders of the Harlem Renaissance and contributed to the creation of the “jazz poetry” genre.

In 1931, Hughes decided he wanted to create theater “for the people.” As part of this mission, he co-founded the New York Suitcase Theater in Harlem, which focused on creating interracial plays and performing for workers in labor organizations. His play Don't You Want To Be Free? became the longest running play in Harlem at the time.

Ten years later in Chicago, Hughes founded a group called The Skyloft Players, which existed to support black playwrights and help bring “the black perspective” to theater. Hughes gained a worldwide reputation for his literary genius and powerful writing during the civil rights movement. Today he is still considered one of the most important and influential American authors and thinkers.

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry was the first black female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry grew up in Chicago where her family suffered under segregation. Her most well-known play, A Raisin in the Sun tells a similar story of a black family in South Chicago facing racial segregation and financial hardship.

A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959 and won The New York Drama Critics' Circle award, making Hansberry the youngest playwright to receive this honor. Today, many critics consider A Raisin in the Sun to be one of the best plays of all time.

Lonne Elder III

Lonne Elder III grew up in an impoverished family during the Great Depression and was orphaned at a young age. His aunt and uncle then raised him in New Jersey before he moved to Harlem, New York as an adult.

After serving two years in the army, Elder began pursuing acting and playwriting. Remember Lorraine Hansberry’s debut play, A Raisin in the Sun? Lonne Elder III was cast as the starring role in that original production! Elder also received direct encouragement from Langston Hughes regarding his talent as a writer.

In 1969, Elder’s play Ceremonies in Dark Old Men told the story of a Harlem barber and his family. This work received many accolades, including a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright and a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

Shortly after this success, Elder pursued a career in Hollywood. His adaptation of William H. Armstrong's novel Sounder received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay, making Elder the first black man to receive this honor.

We are forever grateful to these brilliant playwrights for sharing their stories and talent with the world. As we celebrate Black History Month, let’s remember to appreciate their legacy. And go read or watch their plays!

Top Ten Tips For Successful Online Theatre

How to Run an Online Theatre Production

By Calliope Weisman, Co-Producer of the online Stage on Screen Theatre Festival at The MAIN Theatre in Newhall, CA

By now we’ve all been invited to a Zoom event that we were supposed to attend in-person. Of course the rescheduled virtual events aren’t the same, but that doesn't mean they can’t still be entertaining. Out of all the public locations that shut down six months ago, going to the theater is what I miss the most. I decided early on that I was going to make the most out of the situation, and use the resources I had to their fullest potential.

Now, producing remote theatre for an online audience is a new endeavour for most of us. There’s certainly a learning curve, and it can be intimidating. But don’t be afraid to think outside the box. (And screen!) Theatre artists are constantly learning and adapting. So, while I hope you all strive to make each show better than the last in some way, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. It doesn't have to be perfect, but here are some guidelines to help you avoid some common missteps. The fun is in the process!

Here are ten valuable tips for theatre artists that I’ve learned this year from producing, directing, and/or stage managing over a dozen shows in quarantine. I know we’re all eager to work in live theatre again, but until then, I hope you make the most of your time spent creatively at home.

1) Expand Your Theatre Family

Now is your chance to work with people you wouldn’t normally be able to. Post your casting calls on a variety of Facebook groups to find actors and designers from all around the world. You might even be able to reconnect with old theatre friends who moved out of state. As long as you are all willing to accommodate the time differences, the possibilities are endless. This is a great way to grow your network and learn from a variety of people’s experiences. Or even host a reunion of talented artists you haven’t worked with in ages.

2) Connect With Your Audience

One of the things I miss most about live performance is the final piece of the puzzle—the audience! Since performing to a small camera doesn’t allow us to hear the crowd’s laughter, gasps, and sniffles throughout the Zoom show, we don't get the same thrill as performing on a stage. Actors crave the real-time response from the audience to share in the emotion of the story. It’s that live relationship that makes storytelling such a cathartic experience. But you can fill our need for human connection by having a talkback after your show. Have everyone turn on their cameras and microphones to chat with the cast just like they would in the lobby. It’s the best alternative to staying connected with your community of fellow artists as well as your extended theatrical family. If your show is interactive, ask your audience to participate in the chat box throughout the show to get immediate feedback and to keep them engaged.

3) Make Your Actors Look Good

As any theatre-goer knows: good lighting is an essential part of all performances, and it is equally important for online shows. Make sure your online actors have good front lighting, usually with a ring light or natural light from a nearby window. You do not want your actors to look too orange or too dark because of inadequate or unreliable light sources (like the sun). Also, make sure their camera is eye-level so they are not looking down at us (stacked books can easily solve this problem).

4) Make Your Actors Sound Good

Your living space does not have the same acoustics as an auditorium, so you need to adapt. Room ambience and choice of microphone greatly define the quality of your audio. I do not recommend using headphones, because they usually do not fit as a costume piece. But they can be useful if the actor cannot rely on a completely quiet area that pets, children, or firetrucks might interrupt. Avoid echo-y rooms and turn off that loud fan in the background. Speaking of sound, you actually should not project your voice, as actors are trained to do. Zoom will automatically turn down your sound if you speak louder than their “allowed volume.” This might seem counter-intuitive, but as a general note, speak a little softer than your regular voice, and if your character needs to “yell,” then slightly raise your voice so it does not go higher than the limit. Zoom picks up softer voices surprisingly well. (Also remind your audiences to turn up their computer speakers. You’d be shocked by the amount of complaints we get from people who write “No sound?” in the chat box, but the only problem is that they forgot to unmute their laptop.)

5) Don’t Forget About Set

Just because you’re not on a stage, it doesn’t mean you can completely ignore the setting. Set design is also an integral part of storytelling, so put your actors in the world of the play! Try your best to set up a functional set that your actors can interact with, but if you can’t, then a blank wall will suffice as it is clean and not distracting. If actors “share” the same location, keep their backgrounds similar or at least neutral. Virtual backgrounds can work as well. They look the best with a solid green screen and evenly-distributed front lighting which is crucial in creating the sharpest silhouette. If an actor is sitting at a desk in their room, it must be a “character choice” that fits within the world of the play, not just a default. And practice all Zoom settings and tech cues in rehearsals to avoid awkward delays in the show.

6) Do Not Read Stage Directions

Stage directions immediately remind us that we’re not in the theater, and we want to uphold the illusion as best we can. Plus, those extra lines add minutes to your show and audiences get bored and distracted very quickly. It may feel like you need to make up for lack of blocking, but you can convey those ideas in artistic ways with a little creativity. So often they are as simple as “she takes off her coat and sighs.” SHOW us, don’t tell us. If the stage directions are a bit more complex, challenge yourself to find innovative ways to express those blocking notes, choreographed sequences, or set descriptions through fun camera tricks, sound effects, or extra screens with virtual backgrounds used like projections on a stage. For example, set the scene by opening with an image or slideshow of that town with the date or time period. Reach out to designers for help; they know how to solve these problems!

Just like for a stage production, having your lines memorized gives you the freedom to play with your intentions and embrace your surroundings. Relying on a pdf of your script is distracting for the audience because they can see your eyes scan left and right and it does not allow you to fully connect with your distanced scene partner. Our connection with fellow actors is the glue holding these online shows together. The relationships between the characters are what make the audience give in to the suspension of disbelief. If the actors are in-the-moment, the audience will be too. Even just being extremely familiar with the text will unchain you from staring at the screen the whole show.

7) Memorize Your Lines

Get in touch with indie playwrights and ask to produce their plays. They might charge you a small fee or even grant you the rights for free. In my experience, they are honored that you reached out to them and support their craft. New and lesser-performed playwrights love seeing their work produced by independent theatre groups. You’ll get exposed to a wider range of plays in various genres and that is great for furthering your theatrical education—and your audience’s tastes. You can also find plays from smaller publishing companies like Pioneer and Heuer. They usually reply faster and have many more titles available for online performances. Many big publishing companies, like Concord (formerly Samuel French) and Dramatists, are not granting the rights to popular titles because the playwrights do not want their works online. Even if they do, you might have to jump through extra hoops to get the rights approved, and it can take up to eight weeks! But whatever play you choose to do, make sure you get proper permission and pay the licensing fees BEFORE you start promoting your show in ANY capacity! If you don’t want to deal with licensing rights, it’s easier than ever to produce original content! Bring a cast together to do a reading of the project you finally finished. Workshop an idea you’ve never had the time to complete, or devise a new piece with a group of students, distant collaborators, or your own troupe.

8) Be Creative

Work on shows that you might not otherwise be able to. Experiment with new methods of storytelling, including shadow puppets, homemade props, and collaborative choreography. Don’t be afraid to try out special Zoom techniques in order to provide a visually stunning image to your audiences. This can mean using different costumes to portray multiple characters, or standing in several places around the room to give a sense of depth to the scene. Maybe even record some elements to screen as a movie and then have other scenes performed live. Explore this modern medium!

9) Have Fun!

This might sound cheesy, but it’s so important to love the work you’re doing. Especially during this stressful time, doing theatre should be a source of emotional comfort and creative fulfillment, and an opportunity to practice your craft until we can do shows in person again. Work with people who bring you joy and spark your creativity. The team you bring together (or even the team that you are brought onto) should create an environment that fosters growth and a sense of community when it is otherwise hard to create one while stuck at home.

10) Know When to Break the Rules

Think outside the box! Stand in an echo-y room to create a God-like sound. Turn off all the lights in your room and only have the computer light shine on your face for that haunting nightmare scene. Muffle your microphone for that creature hiding in the shadows. Experiment with animated green screens. Do you remember how many forms you had to sign to get permission to light a candle onstage? Not anymore! Not only can you use real candlelight at home, you can even cook food in your own kitchen and turn on your sink if the scene calls for it. We may have new limitations, but we also have new freedoms! Now is the time to take risks and be creative within these weird social and physical restrictions we find ourselves in.

Producing online shows can be challenging, as is learning any new medium, but it can also be just as rewarding. Plus, it teaches us new creative skills we can carry back with us to live theatre when we’re fortunate to share a real stage again. Break a leg!

For extra advice and support on your own theatrical production, please do not hesitate to contact Calliope at ca*********@***il.com.

About Calliope Weisman

CALLIOPE WEISMAN is a director and stage manager in Santa Clarita and LA. She is the founder and co-producer of the SOS Theatre Festival at The MAIN, where she is also a House Manager.

Recent work as a director includes an online production of Proof, as well as the LA premiere of Puffs and Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) at The MAIN.

Calliope has also worked as a stage manager with independent theatre companies throughout Los Angeles including: the Lounge Theatre, Knot Free Productions, Big Sandwich Theatre Co, Tavern Brawlers, CrowsNest Productions, and Menagerie Theatre Works. She is proud to be one of the founders of The Old Mask Era Theatre Company with her sister, Denim, as well as the ever-growing Santa Clarita Independent Theatre Alliance.

After receiving her BA in Theatre with a focus on arts education and stage management from San Diego State University, Calliope taught at College of the Canyons and Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum.

Calliope is so fortunate to be able to continue directing and producing with passionate and talented artists to bring a variety of live shows to her community during this time of isolation. She is constantly learning from her experiences and appreciates every opportunity to make her next project better than the last.

Thank you to her coworkers at The MAIN for helping her bring the SOS Fest to life. Special thanks to Denim, her parents, and her friends for their constant love and support and especially for keeping her sane while working from home.