Women’s History Month Showcase, directed and conceived by Mason theater student Kayla Schultz, debuted March 5, 2020, in the TheaterSpace to a receptive and enthusiastic audience. Appropriately, the month of March is designated as Women’s History Month, which was founded to commemorate and celebrate the vital role that women play and the many contributions they have made and continue to make to American history and contemporary society.
Kayla said that she “first came up with this idea to hold a scene showcase honoring the works of female playwrights around a year ago, when the ’18 – ’19 season (my junior year) was the first season of my time here that featured more than one play written by a woman.” She is hoping that the Showcase “will raise the general public’s awareness of women playwrights and advocate for more women’s works at Mason.”
She also hopes that her Women’s History Month Showcase, which is a First Annual Fundraiser for Friends of Theater Scholarships, will continue to be an annual tradition at Mason. Kayla expressed thanks to Paulette and Mack Miller, Alice Magelssen-Green, and Kevin Murray, for their collaboration in helping to make her idea a reality. (See photo.)
In choosing the excerpts from seven plays written by women and performed by Mason students, Kayla said she wanted to showcase the wide-ranging, diverse aspects of women’s works from old, from about 1934 – The Children’s Hour by Lillian Helman, to a modern, recently written play – Clean by Theresa Marie Ohanian; women and their roles in society - Fefu and her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes; women in the workplace – Top Girls by Caryl Churchill, and ending with a Special Presentation of the upcoming Mason Players Production of Men in Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus.
After graduating in May, Kayla says she plans to stay in the DC area as she enjoys the vitality of its theater community and also likes that it is the heart of government. She is also shadowing Evan Hoffman, Artistic Director of NextStop Theatre in Herndon, Virginia, and is looking forward to being assistant director in an upcoming production of Noises Off.