The Theatre Profession - Is it a role for Women? by Paula Tombs

The Theatre Profession – is it a role for women?

I have been fortunate in my life to have carved out a successful career in theatre as a female. But during my time it is clear that like many other professional trades, theatre is an industry that has been historically saturated by men.

My passion for theatre began as a young child, when I auditioned for the primary school play and got cast as Gretel in ‘Hansel and Gretel’, then felt like I had won the lottery. I’ve always known the theatre industry to be incredibly competitive, where often only the most focused and driven succeed.

Moving on to study drama and eventually pursuing a professional acting career I began to realise I had something else against me, being a female in theatre. In my early career often the best parts in plays were for men, giving a very short queue in the audition line for the female roles.

During Shakespeare’s times all women were banned from the stage, with males playing all roles. The men also wrote and directed the plays while the women had specific expectations of keeping the house. As time went by this trend continued for many years. Even when female actors were permitted to grace the stage, it was expected that they were sensible, often mothers, sisters and supporting characters.

At the beginning of the 1900’s there were many great changes in the arts, encouraging more contemporary methodologies of theatre making. The two

The Theatre Profession – is it a role for women?

great practitioners Brecht and Stanislavski (though both male) recognised the need for theatre to influence and educate society, pushing for real life to be represented on stage. This then influenced playwrights such as Tennessee Williams and Henrik Ibsen to write fantastic and powerful roles for women to play on stage. Though the audiences at the time were outraged, these amazing works paved a way for females in the theatre industry to be recognised for their craft. People began to realise that behind closed doors women had the same stories to tell as men, the same fears, the same challenges and that audiences wanted to hear about them, to see them on the stage.

Cut forward to modern day and the theatre industry is now led by both men and women who in their own right have many excellent opportunities to create fulfilling careers in the arts.

However, in both theatre and film it can still often be seen that men have the most fulfilling roles, and perhaps will be recognised more for their creativity and talent on the stage, whereas women will also need ‘the look’. This is something I came against as an actor in my early career. I have always recognised theatre is visual and audiences often need to feel satisfied with how a character looks, but I would never want a young woman pursuing an acting career to feel this is the only way of being cast.

I have worked with some excellent female playwrights, directors, designers and actors over the span of my career and hope wholeheartedly that this may continue. The way we understand women’s place in society has changed and alongside this so has the stories we have want to tell about the challenges of a modern day women. With this comes more opportunities to thrive in what will always be an incredibly competitive but rewarding industry.

My advice for any female pursuing the arts is to keep focused on what you love, how much you have to offer and what stories you want to tell. There will always be a place for you in the theatre industry and you are what makes change.

by Paula Tombs Head of Drama

SCRIBBLE

Independent Day School 32 Town Walls , Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1TN www.shrewsburyhigh.gdst.net www.shrewsburyhigh.gdst.net