on her shoulders
On Her Shoulders was founded in May 2013 to present rehearsed, staged readings of plays by women from across the spectrum of time, with contemporary dramaturgs contextualizing them for modern audiences. The program was incorporated into NPTC's Women's Work Project in Fall 2013 and continues to strive to make it impossible for producers and theatre companies to deny or ignore the 1,000-year history and value of women's contribution to the theatrical canon.
Reading Series
Since its creation, the OHS program of readings has presented 63 plays by 51 writers from circa 955 to 1970 as well as special events on theatre women in the Suffrage and Radical Theatre Movements.
A unique aspect of the Reading Series is the Play In Context component, which includes a dramaturgical essay that analyzes each featured play within its own time and place; a substantial playwright biography; and an introduction to a reading or performance by a dramaturg who brings a personal perspective to the dramatist and her work. All readings include a post-performance talk-back with refreshments.
List of plays featured in the Reading Series
Read a piece about On Her Shoulders on HowlRound.
Read about the need for translating works by women in American Theatre Magazine
Database
To find plays for the reading series, the OHS team has done extensive research and compiled a growing master list of hundreds of women who wrote plays from around the world. This has led to the creation of a simple database that contains brief biographies of the playwrights, lists of their plays, and links for more information.
NPTC is sharing the Database, free of charge, with theatre practitioners and educators, and the general public, as a resource for increasing productions of plays by women and enriching theatre history curricula. Users are all invited to participate in the expansion of the database by providing names and other information about women who are not yet included.
Read an article about the database in the Women in Theatre Journal.
publication
In 2017, NPTC published a book of biographies and dramaturgical essays of the women whose plays had been featured in the reading series. The goal of this publication is to introduce directors, educators, and producers to the existence of these plays, and offer some preliminary "homework" through the dramaturgical essays to encourage more productions of plays by women in classical repertories and theatre curricula. An updated edition of the book is planned for Fall 2024.
The Reading series is produced by Melody Brooks; Lynn Marie Macy is Associate Producer. Arminda Thomas is a Resident Dramaturg. Ashley Hajimirsadeghi is the Database Manager.
The Play in Context, the dramaturgical and scholarly presentation component to the program, is sponsored in part by the League of Professional Theatre Women, a non-profit organization promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in theatre since 1982. Beginning in 2019, Play In Context lectures are available on NPTC's YouTube Channel.
OHS History
ON HER SHOULDERS was created by Susan Jonas in association with the New School for Drama in May 2013. Jonas was joined by playwright Andrea Lepcio and actor Lillian Rodriguez in the initial phase of the program. NPTC assumed responsibility for the program that November. The first season, curated by Jonas, offered 10 plays; since then readings have taken place quarterly. From its inception in 2013 until 2019, OHS was in residence at The New School and acting alumnae from the school are now part of the NPTC core Companie.
