The Kilroys' List[1] is a gender parity initiative to end the "systematic underrepresentation of female and trans playwrights" in the American theater industry.
[3] First released in June 2014, the list is an annual collection of highly recommended contemporary plays written by female and trans* authors, which are read or seen by an industry professional within the last twelve months.
"[6] The founding Kilroys members were: Zakiyyah Alexander,[7] Bekah Brunstetter, Sheila Callaghan,[8] Carla Ching,[9] Annah Feinberg,[10] Sarah Gubbins,[11] Laura Jacqmin,[12] Chelsea Marcantel,[13] Joy Meads, Kelly Miller, Meg Miroshnik,[14] Daria Polatin, Tanya Saracho,[15] and Marisa Wegrzyn.
In 2018, The Kilroys passed the baton from the founding members to a "new class" of 14 radical theatremakers composed of writers, producers and directors Jaclyn Backhaus, Hilary Bettis, Jennifer Chambers, Claudia de Vasco, Emma Goidel, Christina Ham, Jessica Hanna, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Obehi Janice, Hansol Jung, Chelsea Marcantel, Caroline V. McGraw, Bianca Sams, and Gina Young.
To qualify as eligible for The List, a play must be: Gender Parity is a term that has grown to widespread popularity in the theater industry in recent years.
[19] Much of this work has been statistical research based on numbers of women and trans* artists and administrators filing roles within a theater organization's staff and theatrical season.
Considered the most recent statistical research and analysis on gender disparity, The Count was founded by playwrights and co-founders of the Lilly Awards, Marsha Norman and Julia Jordan, and Rebecca Stump of the Dramatists Guild.
The website is an initiative to address how professional theaters can use a more efficient selection process to determine which plays will be produced for their annual seasons.
"[34][35] In June 2015, American Theatre Magazine wrote, "The impact of that initial list is hard to measure precisely, particularly given the long lead times of some theatres’ season planning, but the Kilroys have reported that 28 of the original 47 plays have since been produced, and individual writers cited on the list have reported more interest and requests for their scripts, if not a spate of production commitments.