Project “SEASON WOMEN 2019-2021”

Project S E A S O N is a platform and an invitation for collaboration. It supports, promotes and gives a platform to stories owned by women, to a narrative from a female perspective. In the context of a wider political and ideological crisis, true equality between men and women in all areas of society remains elusive. The project is inspired by artists and institutions around the world who try to influence structures and challenge hierarchies, either by re-examining the policy of festivals, museums and theatres, or by creating work containing different archetypes and role models, or by consciously choosing a different lens through which to interpret stories that had defined our collective cultural identity. Writers, visual artists, playwrights, directors and actors shape the stories through which the world we live in is shaped. The project involves workshops, performances and virtual discussions. More precisely, the performances and side events contain: • the promotion of different or revised role models and archetypes for women in society • the deconstruction of the dominant narrative or the promotion of an additional or alternative narrative concerning women • a historical perspective on the women’s movement • theatrical biographies of important female historical figures • a revision of what is considered ‘classic’: a new interpretation, charged by the season’s theme, of landmark plays from the world repertory that have defined our cultural narrative (special emphasis will be given to the 19th century, the Renaissance and classical antiquity) Furthermore, side events and performances may also include: • new plays by women or people who identify as women in staged readings or productions • a platform for women playwrights or playwrights who identify as women in the first stages of their career • workshops, masterclasses, readings on the season’s theme • an emphasis of female-lead productions, especially on female directors and playwrights All the events in SEASON: WOMEN are accompanied by research and chronology of the women’s movement in Cyprus conducted by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies. The project is implemented in collaboration with the following partners: National Mechanism for Women’s Rights Cyprus, Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth, A.G. Leventis Foundation, Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, Awesome Without Borders a programme of the Harnisch Foundation, the Gilbert Murray Trust, KPMG Cyprus.