These are old plays – isn’t this old news? What difference does it make now?

Yes, Shakespeare was writing 400 years ago… but he’s very much alive in our culture. Theatre is a unique medium: no matter when a play was written, the only time it can be performed is NOW. We can watch films shot in the 1920s, binge tv shows from last year, and listen to songs recorded yesterday – but theatre demands our presence and immediacy.

That means the classics – the stories we tell, retell, read, teach, and ongoingly perform as the bedrock of “good theatre” - shape what gets performed on contemporary stages. And if we say the only plays worth reviving and revisiting, referencing and revering, are those by mostly white men… that shapes who sees themselves in today’s classic theatre scene. It also sends a message to all the high school and college students, that they should shape their listening and understanding to one particular experience, rather than reflecting back their own.

SURPRISE: Women have always been writing. Many of the plays and playwrights in the curated ETC collection were lauded in their time, but have since been excluded from the classic canon. By demanding space for these works alongside the likes of Shakespeare, Pinter, Chekhov, and Ibsen, we create a culture that celebrates the contributions of women and gender-expansive writers throughout history. Elevating these plays in today’s theatre landscape clearly reframes the “message” of classics and worthiness: the theatre has been a space for all kinds of artists across the globe — and all their histories and perspectives deserve production, reverence, and study. (And here’s the quiet part out loud: “and so are YOURS.”)

These excellent plays deserve a permanent and substantial space in the canon, giving current and future generations a more complete, representative, and accurate literary history. You deserve to trust your legacy will be uplifted, too.

Learn about what we do and how to work with us.

The short answer? We read, research, and collaborate. A lot.

We spotlight women and gender-expansive playwrights too often left out of the canon, leading the theatrical canon toward gender equity through research, curation, and advocacy.

To facilitate this culture shift, we curate an annual list of excellent historic plays and advocate for their production, worldwide. 

In conversation with academics, literary managers, dramaturgs, estates, translators, and librarians, we search the stacks — both the physical and digital — for classic plays by women and those who exist beyond the binary. Our research team maintains an ever-growing database of titles (currently 9,000+), stretching as far back as the 10th century, and from every continent, except Antarctica – but we’re still searching!

Our Reading Committee evaluates several hundred of these plays each year, scoring them based on quality of language, relevance, producibility, strength of plot and characters, and if they themselves would be excited to celebrate the play as a classic. 
From there, our Curating Team decides on a select number of these plays to add to the public list, which is shared widely with theater makers, educators, and readers.

Our goal is to ensure more of these titles are known, translated, produced, and celebrated, creating a permanent shift in the canon. If you’d like to work with us on this initiative, contact us about partnerships, consulting, or educational support.  

Learn more about the selected plays, or the readers and curators that chose them.

A guide to bonafide classics by women and underrepresented genders we curated to make slotting these plays into your season and syllabi easy.

Access original scripts, translations, licensing info and more with only $25.

Our plays span 1600-1990, 16 countries, 11 languages of origin, cast sizes ranging from 1 to 25+, many styles and topics… and are all excellent.

PEAK INSIDE or WATCH SELECTED SCENES