36 women+ playwrights commissioned to create new plays examining the current state of democracy in America

A new initiative will bring together 36 acclaimed women+ playwrights from across the world, with each creating ten-minute plays that respond to shared questions about the state of democracy in America.

The short plays will be published as a free-to-perform anthology and will be performed in communities globally between 23 October and 3 November. Theatres, organisations, schools and individuals wishing to participate can sign up on the Flynn Center for Performing Arts website. The Flynn will host the world premiere of all of the plays commissioned through Women+ on the Edge of Democracy in Vermont.

Women+ on the Edge of Democracy commissioned playwrights are currently Jane Anderson, Leslie Ayvazian, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Moira Buffini, Lucy Caldwell, Bridget Carpenter, Paula Cizmar, Migdalia Cruz, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Elizabeth Diggs, Hannah Doran, Stella Feehily, Lauren M. Gunderson, Zinnie Harris, Justice Hehir, Beth Henley, Elizabeth Kuti, Haruna Lee, Kimber Lee, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Lisa Loomer, Sarah Mantell, Deb Margolin, Ellen McLaughlin, Susan Miller, Rona Munro, Lynn Nottage, Ife Olujobi, Dael Orlandersmith, a.k. payne, Heather Raffo, Sarah Ruhl, Heidi Schreck, Jenny Schwartz, Judith Thompson, and Else Went, with more names to be announced.

Dramaturgs for the project include Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Sarah Mantell, Amrita Ramanan, Zeina Salame, and Jenny Worton.

The project is presented by Flynn Center for Performing Arts in partnership with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Jay Wahl, executive director of the Flynn, said, “We are living through a defining moment for American democracy which impact globally, and artists are essential in times like these, helping us make sense of history as we’re living through it. Women+ on the Edge of Democracy gathers some of the most insightful playwrights of our time to witness, question, and illuminate this pivotal chapter in American civic life. Democracy depends on shared public space: the places where we gather and the conversations we’re willing to have with one another. In the spirit of Vermont’s state motto, ‘Freedom and Unity,’ the Flynn is proud to make these plays available freely to communities across the world, creating opportunities for people to come together, reflect, and engage.”

Leslie Swackhamer, executive director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, added, “Susan Smith Blackburn believed that our society needed more influence from talented women – that our stages, our stories, and our civic life were poorer without their voices at the center. Theatre has always been one of the few places where democracy can actually happen: strangers gather in a room, sit with an idea together, and leave changed by it. The writers joining us for this project are being asked the most vital question of our time – what is the state of democracy in America? – and I have no doubt their answers will inspire all of us to sit with that question ourselves.”