Beautiful People, thank you for your support of Women & Theatre! As of July 2025, Women & Theatre is on an indefinite hiatus. Please continue to enjoy the archive of our interviews with women and gender-expansive folks in theatre.
S5E9: Tanya Birl-Torres
In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with director, choreographer, producer, and creator Tanya Birl-Torres about tripping and falling into a theatrical career, drawing inspiration from chosen ancestors, daring to stay in the center of yourself, increasing visibility of parenting in theatre, and more.
S5E8: Arts Funding Shifts
In this episode, Hayley and Amy discuss funding shifts in the arts in 2025. We get ourselves up to date on what’s been happening with the National Endowment for the Arts, chat about alternative funding visions for theatre and the arts, and share action steps you can take to support the arts in your own community.
S5E5: Victoria Detres
In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with producer and RISE Program Manager Victoria Detres about embracing humanity through storytelling, creating a culture of care in the theatre industry and beyond, building sustainable theatrical spaces that are inclusive of artists from underrepresented groups, and more. We also highlight Hannah Cowley as part of our Women’s History Month Playwrights You Should Know series, in partnership with Expand the Canon.
S5E1: Jennifer Ashley Tepper
In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with theatre historian, author, and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper about authentic representation onstage and off, storytellers’ responsibility to choose values over biases, the diverse manifestations of women’s power, becoming friends with failure, and more. We also highlight Zora Neale Hurston as part of our Women’s History Month Playwrights You Should Know series, in partnership with Expand the Canon.
RISE Series E6: Heather Shields and Erica Rotstein (The Business of Broadway)
The Women & Theatre RISE Series presents mini-interviews conducted at the Inaugural RISE Summit with network partners of RISE Theatre, all of which are organizations working to increase equity in the theatre industry. In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with Heather Shields and Erica Rotstein from The Business of Broadway.
S4E2: Skye Cone Ivey
In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with arts administrator and producer Skye Cone Ivey about values-first producing, making space for people who have been excluded, advocating for mental health and women’s health, and more.
S3E8: Nicolette Blount
In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with Chickasaw playwright, producer, and performer Nicolette Blount about her musical Savage, lifting up authentic female voices and stories, increasing accessibility and opportunity for writers of new musicals, parenting as a spiritual practice, and more!
S3E7: Mayah Lourdes Burke
In this episode, Hayley and Amy chat with multi-hyphenate Mayah Lourdes Burke, about creating equitable rehearsal spaces as an artivist, juggling hats as a multi-hyphenate, and how to build and nurture community in your theatrical work!
S3E6: Kelley Girod
In this episode, Hayley and Amy chat with playwright and producer Kelley Girod, the founder of The Fire This Time Festival and Director of New Works at the Apollo, about the vital importance of building community, uplifting the visibility of people and stories and voices we have not yet experienced, stepping into discomfort to create sustainable practices in theatre, and more!
S2E2: Kim Lara
In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with performer, producer, and playwright Kimberly Lara about the lived realities of immigrant families in the United States, the importance of cultural specificity in representation, crowdsourcing feedback on new shows in development, and the transformative quality of theatre. As a bonus, we celebrate Women’s History Month by spotlighting Vinnette Justine Caroll, the first Black woman to direct a show on Broadway.
S2E1: Megan Minutillo
In this episode, Hayley and Amy speak with producer, director, writer, and educator Megan Minutillo about the importance of education and mentorship in theatre, womanhood and motherhood as a complex work in progress, and building bridges through collaboration.
S1E9: Producibility
In this episode, Hayley and Amy discuss the concept of producibility. What are the myths and stories we’ve been told about what makes a show producible? What kinds of shows would we like to see produced? And how does all of that fit into the current state of theatre finances? We start to answer some of these questions and offer ideas about how we can innovate and make bold choices as an industry.