About WTP

The Women and Theatre Program is a self-incorporated division of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). Founded in 1974, our mission is to bring theater professionals together with academics and activists.  In the years since our inception, WTP has sponsored panels and activities at ATHE’s annual conference.  In 1980, WTP began holding its own annual pre-ATHE conference.  WTP conferences feature panels, informal discussions, workshops, and performances as a means to foster both research and production of feminist theatre activities.  WTP conference topics have included the intersection of theory and performance, multicultural theatre, lesbian theory and theatre, and many related aspects of feminist inquiry.  In addition to its conference activity, WTP, in collaboration with ATHE, sponsors the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award.  This award is one of the few nationally recognized competitions for women playwrights and attracts over 200 submissions annually.  The award-winning play is given a reading at ATHE, and an annotated list of the top contenders is circulated to the WTP members and over 400 regional theaters.  The continuing goal of WTP is to enable feminist inquiry and to provide opportunities for discussion between those who teach, perform, and theorize about feminism, theatre, and performance.