By Allison Considine, September 23, 2020 (Read Here)

“The biggest surprise for me was how awesome so many of these plays are, and how horrifying it is that they don’t get the attention that some of their male counterparts did,” says Candler. Lyon’s research led her down a rabbit hole of Japanese plays and the discovery of many unproduced translated works. “What was most surprising is that women have been writing all along,” concedes Lyon, noting that one of her favorite finds was Bold Stroke for a Husband by Hannah Cowley. “Discovering these great plays that are analogous to Molière…I’m hoping they catch fire.”

Candler and Lyon cite the Kilroys, Parity Productions, History Matters Back to the Future, and New Perspectives Theatre Company’s “On Her Shoulders” as helpful resources in culling the reading list. Hedgepig’s Expand the Canon project, though, is more than a catalogue of plays—the company aims to get the plays produced. Part of the whittling process for this year’s list included looking at the works’ relevance today as well as various producing considerations. Hedgepig’s website includes a summary of each of the selected plays, information about cast size, licensing information, and where the scripts can be found. “

Guest Essay by By Emily Lyon, Mary Candler, February 22, 2022 (Read Here)

“As we work to expand our definition of classics beyond the work of white men, let’s not forget to look outside English-language drama as well."….

“If we begin to frame performance translations as a deepening of the material, and acknowledge the value that world classics can add to our English-language canon, supporting translations is a no-brainer. Our task, then, is to make this work a priority by creating space for translators in the world of playwriting residencies; commissioning translations of world classics; creating cross-departmental programs at universities; and honoring translators as co-owners of a work in contracts, using the Authors Guild’s model rather than the Dramatists Guild’s.

As we expand the canon to include world classics, we need to be thoughtful about bypassing or confronting the gatekeepers around translations, be they funders, producers, or even academics. As playwright and translator Catherine Boyle (she/her) noted, “In translating Ana Caro Mallén de Soto, I had to ignore the orthodoxy that her plays are unperformable,” referring to the received wisdom about the work of the Spanish Golden Age poet and playwright. Far from being unstageable, Boyle said, working on Caro’s plays “taught me about how she subverted form and how she constructed a dramatic language of her own that both used and undermined the dominant forms” of her time. Of course, Caro’s Amor, Agravio y Mujer is a performable and beautiful play: You can find versions of it on our Expand the Canon list.”

October 3, 2022 (read here)

““All media is education,” said Hedgepig artistic director Emily Lyon in a statement. “If we insist the only classics worth reviving are those by white men, we are teaching ourselves and future generations that those are the only perspectives we value long term. Everyone deserves to have their history. We need artists and educators to step up and champion the fact that women have always been writing.” 

The list has helped to inspire several Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national theatre productions. Among the writers on the group’s inaugural list were Alice Childress, whose Trouble in Mind had its belated Broadway debut in 2021 at the Roundabout Theatre Company, and whose Wedding Band has been revived regionally over the years but only had a high profile Off-Broadway revival this year, in Awoye Timpo’s production. In 2020, Roundabout’s Refocus Project produced several readings of plays that were included on the Expand the Canon List. And the Island Shakespeare Festival in Langley, Wash., has committed to producing an Expand the Canon play each season for the next three years. “