I'm the Artistic Director of Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre, a company dedicated to fighting for gender equity by reimagining the classics. Hedgepig's main project is "Expand the Canon." Expand the Canon is an annual, curated list of excellent and producible classic plays by women and underrepresented genders. Both a celebration and a call to action, Expand the Canon demands space in the classical canon for more diverse playwrights, many of whom were underproduced or utterly un-produced in their lifetimes. We call upon our national and international theater community to expand its definition of classical theater and include these brilliant writers and artists in their production seasons, publications, classrooms, and beyond. Why Expand the Canon? Because by re-casting the past, we can shape the future. So long as the only stories revered as classics are by men, we will continue to prioritize the male lens and point of view culturally. Women’s perspectives will always secondary. By insisting that excellent plays by a diverse group of women be regarded as classics, we can redefine theatre’s values. And by staging these stories in our communities, we can shift culture. How do we do it? How did we do it? We compiled a list of nearly 800 (and growing) plays and read 150 of them each year. Play titles were gathered through a recommendation form on our website, extensive research, and outreach. We used New Perspectives’ work and History Matters Back to the Future’s database as jumping off points, which led to conversations with academics, literary managers, dramaturgs, and translators. We intentionally sought scripts by BIPOC writers; we hope that in the future, more of these titles will be known and submitted. The plays were read and rated by a reading committee of industry professionals and narrowed to nine by a four-member curation team of producers, directors, and writers. We scored plays based on quality of language, relevance, strength of plot and characters, producibility – and, frankly, if the readers would be excited to celebrate this play as a classic. Overall: We uplift legacies that have been forgotten, neglected, or subverted - and we honor diverse voices of today by celebrating their parts.
We will use the space for our 2021 Expand the Canon festival in Brooklyn, NY. This will involve readings of the plays for intimate audiences, streamed digitally to international audiences. This will be the home base for expanding the classics and an important step in equality in storytelling.
Peerspace is on a mission to bring people together. We believe it is impossible to achieve that goal unless we also fight for equality and access to resources in the communities we serve.
Having a space to gather, create, and exchange ideas is an important part of any movement. In order to magnify voices that are often quieted, Peerspace will sponsor venues for people who challenge prejudice and fight for social justice and equality.
Each quarter, we will sponsor space for three projects that are relevant to our community. These projects can range from fundraisers and educational initiatives to art exhibits and photo series.
