The MTC Women in Theatre program has supported over eighty theatre professionals in its eight year history, thanks to the generous support of our Women in Theatre Giving Circle.
In response to the feedback received from alumnae, in October we invited past participants of the MTC Women in Theatre program to a special digital reunion event. Hosted by MTC Associate Director and Women in Theatre alumna Petra Kalive, the event gave former participants a valuable chance to reconnect after such a devastating time for the industry and an opportunity to support each other in rebuilding thriving creative careers once again.
Following a group welcome, the event was structured into different virtual foyers or ‘speed meetings’ housed in break-out rooms. Attendees were part of three break-out rooms with different groups comprised of alumnae, Donors and MTC Staff over the course of the evening. To guide the conversation, attendees were invited to consider three provocations for discussion during their time with different groups:
- What have you been doing to keep yourself creatively engaged?
- What has been the biggest learning for you as an artist or person over this time?
- What are you looking forward to doing or seeing when able?
These prompts sparked timely and important conversations, uniting cohorts from different years through shared experiences in the creative industries, and their challenges and triumphs of the past 20 months. The event proved to be a great format for former participants to come together from all across the country, and the themes and questions discussed has prompted interest in future alumnae events.
We look forward to bringing our program cohorts back together later this month for a dedicated digital forum facilitated by Krystalla Pearce and featuring a wonderful panel of industry women – Clare Watson, Tahli Corin, Tasnim Hossain and Anna Liebzeit. This event has been designed to allow for participants to have a safe space to share their challenges of the last two years, discuss ways in which the sector has changed and find collective solutions on how to move forward in this new age for the arts.
A huge thank you to our incredible Women in Theatre Giving Circle Donors who make this program possible and for their participation in this event.
Published on 23 November 2021
