Aussie theatre a boys' club

I just saw this on the ABC performing arts site: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2009/s2763949.htm Apparently, Aussie theatre is full of males. And making it impossible for women to work in it. ... I honestly don't know where anyone would get that idea from. Women outrate men in all of the arts, not just theatre. That men have been getting top positions in a few big name companies smacks of someone being annoyed at being passed over if you ask me (or a writer given a dud press release and finding an angle, any angle, to write about it). I would state that it's easier getting an "upper echelon" (quoting the article) job in theatre if you've already had an upper echelon job, and has nothing to do with gender but the fact that it's circular hiring. Anyone think men are ruling Aussie theatre? EDIT: It's also as if they purposely ignore the many companies in Melbourne which are run by women. La Mama and 45 downstairs come to mind immediately.

First, I should acknowledge that I omitted to mention Buzz Dance Theatre as one of the funded companies, which in its history has predominantly had female Artistic Directors (currently Cadi McCarthy), making it 3 out of 7... which evens up the score a little bit. And regarding my above post, that's not to say that there weren't some very strong female directors in independent productions (often under the Umbrella of the funded companies): Marcelle Schmitz, Emily McLean, Jenny Davis, Mel Cantwell (prior to her taking over the vacancy at PTC), and Renee Newman-Storen being ones that spring to mind... The trouble with the premise of this thread (not enough gender balance in the positions of Artistic Director) is that there simply aren't enough positions as Artistic Director in the first place, and those positions tend to be clung to by the incumbents for quite long periods of time. I think I'm correct in saying that of the funded companies in Perth, Black Swan and Buzz Dance are the only ones to have been led by more than 2 Artistic Directors in the past 10 years. For several companies that statement could apply for much longer. With only rare opportunities to change the status quo, it's difficult for any director, male or female, to attain top position in a company. There were probably eligible female candidates over the years who unfortunately missed out simply because there were no job vacancies at the time for anyone of any gender. Cheers, Craig ~<8>-/====\---------

Gender bias

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