Renaissance Theaterworks Presents Showcase of Global Women Playwrights

Emily Trask. Photo courtesy of Renaissance Theaterworks.

In 1993, five Milwaukee women set out to address gender equity in the performing arts. Frustrated by the limited number of plays written, directed and produced by women—in Milwaukee and across the nation—they founded Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW), aiming to boost the exposure and impact of women in Milwaukee’s theater scene.

Since its founding, RTW has presented more than 200 full productions and readings, 25 Br!NK workshopped readings from Midwestern women playwrights and eight original works by Wisconsin women playwrights. Though “Theater by Women, for Everyone” is RTW’s succinct motto, the task behind it has been a 33-year effort that continues today. And nowadays the company uses the term “women+” to make clear its mission has expanded to include championing works by transgender women, non-binary people and genderfluid individuals.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, RTW will continue its mission with a presentation of select plays from “Women+ on the Edge of Democracy,” an anthology of 10-minute plays and monologues by women+ playwrights from around the world that respond to the questions: What is the current state of democracy in America? What can history, global context or futurism offer us in this pivotal moment?

Yes, it’s an ambitious offering, but making it even more unusual, the show will be presented at a bar, at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave., at 6:30 p.m. It’s a chance for Milwaukee to share in “a collective portrait of a nation in doubt and transformation, seen through the eyes of women playwrights … who have long chronicled America’s contradictions and dreams,” the press release notes.

“Women+ on the Edge of Democracy” is a joint initiative between the Flynn Center in Vermont and The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The full collection includes 36 works. For RTW’s presentation, Emily Trask, RTW’s artistic director, chose seven to share in Milwaukee. Trask just took over as the company’s artistic director in April.

“I call these kinds of plays windshield pieces, in that, on the way home, windshields hear a very interesting conversation about what people experienced during the performance,” Trask said, in an interview with Urban Milwaukee.

While reading the full collection, Trask said she could hear the voices of particular, “phenomenal” Milwaukee actresses in some of the works, which she kept in mind in choosing which seven plays to present. Actresses from UW-Milwaukee, Next Act Theatre and Milwaukee Repertory Theater, among others, will read the pieces, which Trask said is “a good cross-pollination of the theater community.”

“I also picked pieces I thought we could do justice to with a short rehearsal period, which to me is always thrilling because that means the readings are instinctual,” Trask said. “The actresses won’t have time to polish them up, which I believe is important to this kind of work.”

Both monologues and short scenes will be presented.

“Women+ on the Edge of Democracy” organizers asked playwrights across the political spectrum to contribute, intending for no one political viewpoint to take precedence over another in the collection.

“I think it’s fair to say we are a divided country right now,” Trask said. “But one of the incredible powers of theater is that it builds bridges for people to experience a point of view outside of their own in an empathetic way. The pieces being presented are less about finger wagging and more about humanizing the conversation.”

Trask hopes that the presentation will offer a space for attendees to “meet their neighbors, hear some great theater and stay for a conversation.”

“This is a conversation I think everyone should be having,” Trask said.

Rather than hosting a traditional actress-audience talkback or Q&A, RTW will place “light guiding prompts” at each table.

“I think the act of choosing to talk to somebody that maybe you haven’t met before is going to be just as important as the performances,” Trask said. “My goal is that this is a true community event. It has the potential to be truly bipartisan, because as I said, the pieces chosen are particularly human.”

The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited.

“In recent years, there has been a backslide in the number of women’s stories that are being told and produced,” Trask said. “I think these stories are needed more than ever.”

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.