1. I agree with you all. I don’t see anyone fundamentally disagreeing with anyone else – just looking at the issue from many different angles.

2. Let me add this: whatever else can be said about the line up, what happened that night was a Public Relations Disaster. That so many in the audience felt something was terribly wrong tells you that something WAS wrong. That no one working at/for Belvoir – man, woman or child – saw the disaster hurtling towards the company to my mind is ‘Exhibit One’ in the case FOR the proposition that there is a problem.

In the very least, Neil should have acknowledged this was the year Company B was “supporting nice boys with dark hair who all looked much the same”. In my view he only highlighted the vast line up of blokes on stage by paying tribute to the long line of women managers. Not that it would have helped because the damage was already done – but better to have not gone there at all.

The fact that Neil, as usual, could not be bothered to prepare a meaningful speech (and have it checked by a range of staffers) pushed the much loved ‘family environment’ away from a cosy affair on this occasion and into inexcusable amateurism. He fell into a trap he set for himself – and that no one at Belvoir saw the abyss opening up in front of him means ALL who work there must now share in the responsibility for the resultant debacle. It has been months in the making. They ALL need to get together now and talk about what happened openly.

Let’s look to the positive. This is an industry-wide issue/problem. That Belvoir has been able to pro-actively encourage Aboriginal artists suggests that model cannot be dismissed as unproductive.

And ladies, to sit back and expect men to solve this problem for you means you do not have what it takes (collectively) to rightfully stake your claim.

I am glad to report that there was at least one gay guy one stage and at least one left-hander!

The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

http://artsjournalist.blogspot.com/2009/09/where-are-women.html

Even in theory?

I agree entirely. My suggestion, as noted at Cluster, is to take the argument to the board who will be choosing the next AD. I suspect Company B’s selection process (led by Louise Herron) is already well underway, but Malthouse’s will just be getting started.

The other approach is to just do the stuff you’re interested in, with the people who you want to work with, yourself. And you, of course, are a living and breathing example of that approach. As is Jo and just about everyone else who makes it in this business.

And I knew that referring to Sam as Lyn’s “offsider” would backfire on me! She is indeed so much more than that.

Just to clarify a few things- my description of Brenná was not referring to the role she is in currently but the different skills and positions she has held for the last 10 years- yes she certainly is he one running the company- and rightfully so- she is, as I have said before , remarkable.

I must also clarify that also I highlight the women in this company as examples of great women in current theatre- so we don’t forget that they are there and doing an amazing job.

You have also listed some of my favourite all time people I have had the honour to work with… including Sam Hawker- who I may say is much more than Lyn’s previous offsider!

In addtion to this my point is really about the creative or artistic programming vision of that theatre- which is held largely by men. The education, the development and b-sharp positions are held by women. I am certainly not wanting to give any false impressions that these are in any way diminuitive roles. But they are different roles- equally important but different to the roles that are artistic associates, literary manager and the hot topic right now- the position of AD.

I am not meaning to say in anyway that I think Belvoir should and could run any differently- I think it does perfectly well! Women, men whatever… its doing well. What I am saying is, if you want there to be more women in theatre (or more musical theatre) or whatever you want- make it happen.

I’ve outlined some of my thoughts on this topic on Jo’s site, but do want to pick up one thing you wrote:

> “The women of the company are in positions of education. Of promotion. Of support.”

I really think this is selling the people in these roles short and giving a false impression about the mix of females to males in these roles.

Brenna Hobson isn’t just a “producer and manager”. She’s the person running the company! And before Brenna it was Vicki Middleton, before that Sue Donnelly, before that Rachel Healy and before that Louise O’Halloran.

And while the position, by convention, is known as General Manager, in the Company B constitution it’s called Managing Director with the Managing Director and Artistic Director reporting jointly and equally to the board. (This was formalised via a constitutional amendment in 2003 but, I’m sure, informally true for years before that.)

Females have dominated, or at the very least been proportionately represented in, just about all management roles at Company B. I can’t think of a marketing manager there in the last ten years who hasn’t been female, ditto for box office manager. I’d say at least half of the finance managers have been female, probably half the resident stage managers (when the company’s had one) and more than half of the development/sponsorship managers. Brenna herself was production manager for years (and I doubt she’s been the only woman in that role). So it’s certainly been more than just education, promotion and support which has connotations of women being relegated to the “traditional” female roles of teaching, nurturing and secretariat.

And while Neil has been main stage AD at Company B since 1994 (and a driving force since well before then), B-Sharp has (IIRC) been managed solely by females since its inception. First Lyn Walls (with Sam Hawker as her offsider for many years), currently Annette Madden (with Tahli Corin). And I think there’s an argument that could be made that development bodies like B-Sharp (or Griffin, or whatever STC’s Wharf 2 programme is called this year) are actually more critical to the continued cultivation and survival of the art than the main stage arms.

Personally though, I don’t care if the person in an artistic role or an administrative role is male or female, black or white, gay or straight, east or west, top or bottom, raised in the city or raised in the country, graduated from NIDA or the school of hard knocks. Mostly I care about is how much they like musical theatre. Because that’s what matters to me.