Philadelphia Women's Theatre Launches Inaugural Festival  

The Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival (PWTF) announces its inaugural festival, July 30-August 2, creating opportunities for Philadelphia's women in theatre.

Despite a thriving artistic community in the City of Philadelphia, opportunities for female artists are scarce.� Over the past five years, of Philadelphia's largest grossing professional theatre companies, only 10 percent of produced plays were directed by women and only 20 percent were written by female playwrights. There are clearly artistic and creative opportunities in Philadelphia, but they're not abundantly afforded to women. Thus emerges the mission of PWTF -- to celebrate the valuable and diverse voices women contribute to the artistic community.�

"We're asking, Philly, WTF?" said Artistic Director and Co-Founder Polly Edelstein. "Philly is known as the City of Brotherly Love", continues the Villanova M.A. in Theatre alum, "and this male-centric view of our city still exists in the arts, yet we make up over half of the population of Philadelphia. It's 2015 and we are still underrepresented on stage, backstage, and in positions of leadership."

PWTF will change this story. When she announced the festival, said Edelstein, she received more than 100 submissions from women playwrights - some very prominent -- within just three weeks. All of the women were very interested in having their work heard and performed, and had experienced issues getting it done elsewhere.

"The percentage of women in leadership roles is super low, not nearly in parity to men," said Edelstein. "But women are directing and writing plays, and these positions of leadership are really what give the voice of a show and company. We want to be a platform for those voices that are not often heard."
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PWTF fosters, encourages and engages women in the arts of all disciplines:�directors, playwrights, actors, designers, singers, composers, comedians, solo performers, stage managers and more. By offering a unique blend of practical and professional development opportunities through performances, workshops, roundtable discussions and networking events, PWTF serves as a stage for exposure for both emerging artists and seasoned professionals, ushering in a new era of artistic voices, their distinct perspectives and otherwise untold stories.

Edelstein said that although they joke amongst their staff about the day that such a festival would not need to exist anymore, with any theater company or festival, there is always more you can do to achieve your mission. For them, it is the opportunity to present the work of people they may not have been familiar with, and having their artistic voices combine with many other voices.

For this year and the future, Edelstein hopes to get as many women involved as possible, then everyone in Philly involved, to offer professional development and long-term play development at a future point, so that this can be a year-round support group, with the festival serving as their annual celebration.

"It is our goal," said Edelstein, "that Philadelphia will become a national leader when it comes to honoring the value of women's contributions to the arts. Currently, there are not enough opportunities for women in the performing arts. PWTF will change that. PWTF will give us a voice."
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PWTF is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas and sponsored by Villanova University and 954 Dance Movement Collective.
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Serving artists in the Greater Philadelphia area, the 954 Dance Movement Collective is the�working space for touring theatre companies, dance companies, commercial performing artists, dance teachers and independent artists. The mission is to get you dancing. To feed a thriving environment that supports artists who dance, who make dances and teach dance. As well as to build community through dance and to get people of all ages dancing -- from kids to kids at heart.�

For more information about the Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival, visit www.phillywomenstheatrefest.org.