A woman’s world

Although today’s America strives for gender equality in
all areas of professionalism, it cannot be denied that it’s
still largely a man’s world. But women are making advances
and earning respect in playwriting, at least.

Helping to encourage this influx of female playwrights is
UCLA’s Reading Series on Nov. 7 and 14, which will feature
live readings of three new plays, all by women. Marlene Shelton,
Katrina Coltun and Tiffany Antone will have their respective plays
read out loud in Macgowan Hall.

“Because the media and our culture is so male dominated,
there are many people who don’t even know what an authentic
woman’s voice sounds like,” said Shelton, who earned
her master of fine arts in playwriting at UCLA. “I’ve
had men look at me and say, A woman wouldn’t write
that.’ And I think, “˜Well, I might be more of an
authority on this than you.'”

Stereotypical women’s voices won’t be heard in these
plays. “The President’s Wife,” which Shelton
wrote, is about a first lady who takes a shot at her husband and
then locks herself in the Lincoln bedroom. For this play, Shelton
wanted to take the “fly on the wall approach” to the
Bill Clinton situation at the peak of the Monica Lewinsky
scandal.

The reading series, sponsored by the Marianne Murphy Woman and
Philanthropy Award in Playwriting, aims to reach out to female
playwrights in an effort to make their voices heard. It will give
an opportunity for students and others to hear the work being
produced by women involved in UCLA’s theater department.

Coltun, an undergraduate theater student who wrote “A
Horse of a Different Color or Win, Place or Show the True Story of
Descartes Before the Horse,” is excited to have her play read
in this unique environment and isn’t concerned about trying
to fit into any female stereotypes.

“I’ve run from being cornered into expecting to
represent the women’s voice,” said Coltun. “A lot
of the work I do is marginalized into being “˜women’s
issue plays’ when ultimately that’s not all that
I’m dealing with.”

While the three women agree that it is harder for females in
general to break down these types of boundaries, Antone, whose play
“From the Rubble” is about unrequited love, admits that
it’s more about individual people as opposed to clumping all
women into stereotyped groups.

“It is the human experience, and everybody’s voice
is different,” said Antone. “There have been men who
write amazing plays about women and women who write amazing plays
about men.”

Unlike some other professions where it may be harder for a woman
to garner the same kind of respect as men, theater tends to be
focus the importance more on talent regardless of gender.

“Theater is one of those places where gender roles and
stereotypes are more easily bent,” said Antone. “It is
a more forgiving and inviting environment.”

This reading series is just one step toward the greater goal of
having women’s plays held in the same esteem as works of
their male counterparts. Coltun, Antone and Shelton are all
examples of the modern playwright driven by a love for theater and
a desire to succeed.

“Life is harder as a woman, you have to run a little
faster and be a little better,” Shelton said. “But
there are agencies out there who solicit women’s plays and
festivals for women’s plays. So there is a movement out there
to specifically reach out to women in this business, which is a
good thing.”