Venus Theatre’s 17th season of plays by women

It’s International Women’s Day, and what better way to celebrate than to remind you of the work of Venus Theatre, one of the longest running women’s theatre companies in the world, which operates out of its own space in Laurel, MD. By the end of 2017, Venus Theatre, which is dedicated to presenting the works of women playwrights, will have produced 62 plays by women. We spoke with founder and Artistic Director Deb Randall as she announced her season of four plays.

This year, Venus will produce:

Selections from The Methuen Drama Book of SUFFRAGE PLAYS
Edited by Naomi Paxton
March 16 – April 9, 2017

TUNNEL VISION
by Andrea Lepcio
May 11 – June 4, 2017

AGLAONIKE’S TIGER
by Claudia Barnett
September 7 – October 1, 2017

THE RAVENS
by Alana Valentine
November 2 – November 26, 2017

Deb Randall, founder and Artistic Director of Venus Theatre, announces Season 17

Your season’s theme is Love Notes.

Deb Randall: Yes. Each play is a love note to Tricia McCauley. My observation has been that sharing the grief and healing process publicly has helped others so I wanted to extend that.

Also, because I spoke to the press the day her body was found I have been struck very deeply with the task of seeing to it that she be remembered for how she lived. For her own choices in life. And not for how she died. My concern is that as the dark story gets darker she may be remembered in a way that has nothing to do with her. And, so I need to spend a year celebrating her spirit.

The Suffragette plays seem very timely. Did you know about the Women’s March when you made the final selection?

Deb Randall: Yes. Tricia gave me her xeroxes suffrage plays in the 90’s. I’d been complaining about strong roles for women being somewhat non-existent. From those xeroxed pages I staged several of them over the years. I tried to get them to the Sewall-Belmont House where Alice Paul drafted the ERA. And performed them in festivals and outdoors in the early 2000’s in conjunction with CodePink as they protested the Iraq War.

Seeing that some of them are once again published was really heartening. And one thing that has been so absent is the understanding of history. The Actresses Franchise League and all of the very organized and effective efforts that were underway at the other turn of the century. Without understanding and honoring this history the rest seems like hubris to me.

The playwrights speak

All three playwrights, Andrea Lepcio, Claudia Barnett and Alana Valentine have had previous works produced by Venus Theatre. Here they talk about the important role that Deb Randall and Venus have played in their writing lives. Within the video you will see photos of artist Tricia McCauley, to whom the season is dedicated.