VERISIMILITUDE – The lack of truth and gender parity in theatre

By Dee Jae Cox

A playwright creates a story based on their unique perspective, life experiences and personality, which all differentiate and reflect how they see the world. Those differences most likely will determine who the protagonist is and what the story is about. The dialogue, venue, character relationships, priorities, points of view, inciting incidents and outcomes, are all impacted by the writer’s perspective. Which is why male and female writers frequently differ in the stories they tell and how they are told.

Female playwrights may of course create incredible male characters, (Suzan-Lori Parks, Lorrain Hansberry.) And no doubt male playwrights are capable of creating brilliant female characters, (Tennessee Williams, Henrik Ibsen.)

But there is one simple thing that may be missing, the TRUTH of balanced perspectives.

As a student of the UCLA Writer’s Program, a writing instructor, who was himself a playwright, was emphatic about teaching the word, verisimilitude, defined as the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability.  He emphasized that it was essential for a play to possess verisimilitude. It should be taken a step further to infer that theatre itself should possess verisimilitude.

51% of the population is female and statistics indicate that the percentage of female writers is equivalent to male writers and the number of plays submitted for production consideration is equal. Yet there is a serious lack of verisimilitude in American theatre, when close to seventy percent of the plays that are produced are written by men about stories that are told from a male perspective.

This week a Coachella Valley theatre presented a showcase of scenes performed by a ‘Scene Study,’ class. A very enjoyable evening. Ten scenes from ten diverse plays written by ten different playwrights, some famous, others not as much. But what they all had in common is that every single scene was from a play written by a male playwright. Not even a token representation by a female writer.

Unfortunately, this presentation is not an anomaly. In viewing theatrical seasons, it is not uncommon to find only one, if any, female playwrights whose work is included in the line-up.

Gender gaps in many areas can greatly be attributed to the distinction between how men and women perceive and prioritize specific matters. They regularly do not identify the same topics as being of interest or importance. This is a crucial reason why the disparity between male and female representation in theatre causes a great detriment to the culture and communities they seek to represent.

The minority representation of stories by and about women has also dramatically skewed how women are portrayed on stage. Women have been, stereotyped, criminalized, marginalized, sexualized and subjugated in American theatre to a degree that can’t be overstated.

Women make up the majority of theatre audiences and ticket purchases. Yet not only are women’s perspectives and voices denied by the imbalance of gender parity, but the trickle-down effect of this discriminatory practice is insidious and seeps into the pours of how we perceive the world. The dysfunction is reflected in the dearth of female protagonists and leading roles for actresses. It is reflected in the minority representation of female directors, designers and stage crew, in addition to most certainly minimizing the number of stories from a woman’s perspective. When the majority of critics who review plays are male, it slants the reporting, the reviews and even the amount of media coverage and awards that women receive.

Theatre is not just entertainment, it is an ageless reflection of our communities, our culture, our belief systems and our lives. That reflection has historically lacked verisimilitude with women’s perspectives, stories and voices critically underrepresented.

American society frequently teaches that a male protagonist is universal, a female is too specific. That is a false premise. We cannot be willing to sacrifice the verisimilitude of gender parity or to deny our right to expect it. It requires a conscious effort and awareness to do better and not just accept the status quo. Shakespeare’s era dictated that men write all the stories and perform all the roles, contemporary theatre does not.