Overview

"In Jan 1980 a seminar on women in managerial positions in the theatre was held at the City University and this was followed by informal meetings and a conference at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Mar 1980. Out of this grew a more formal Standing Conference of Women Theatre Directors and Administrators who met to discuss professional questions at conferences and seminars.

Their original aims were: a) to create and develop a forum where theatre workers, especially directors and administrators, could come together to discuss problems particular to their profession; b) to establish ways of creating more job opportunities and a better working climate for women in all levels of theatre. These were extended in 1981 to: a) a commitment to achieving equal rights and opportunities for women theatre directors and administrators and the adoption of a radical campaigning policy to achieve these aims; b) a commitment to act as a pressure group in pursuance of the acceptance of Feminist perspectives in the profession, whilst creating more job opportunities and a better working climate for women in all areas of theatre; c) act as a forum for the definition of these perspectives and develop a debate on the inherent values of members' work as women, through a constant exchange of ideas and experience.

It was the perception of members of the Conference that most high-level positions in the arts were held by men, that women were discriminated against and that the roles of Director and Administrator were seen in masculine terms as aggressive and competitive. In 1983, the Conference commissioned statistical research into the status of women in subsidised theatre and published a report on this."

Taken from The Women's Library, LSE, catalogue.

What the collection holds

Archive relating to the Conference of Women Directors (1982 - 1987) including general correspondence, reports, conference papers and notices covering the activities of the Association from 1982-87.

Includes correspondence and other material relating to a one-day conference titled 'Invention Intervention Performance: a conference on women in theatre' run by the Conference of Women Theatre Directors and Administrators (CWTDA) and London Internation Festival of Theatre (LIFT). Held at Riverside Studios, 2 Aug 1987.

The online catalogue for this collection can be viewed here: 
CWTDA - Conference of Women Theatre Directors Archive