BECHDEL PROJECT and Ensemble Studio Theatre Announce the   World Premiere Reading of Jeanne Dorsey’s play, THE KIT: MADE BY MARTHA, as Part of the Alfred P. Sloan 2023 First Light Festival. Bechdel Project and Ensemble Studio Theatre will present the world premiere reading of Jeanne Dorsey’s play, The Kit: Made by Martha, directed by Jackson Gay, on May 7th (3pm)  and 8th (7pm) in New York City at Alchemical Studios ( 50 W 17th St.) Reserve tickets here. Commissioned by the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project , and developed with support from Bechdel Project’s year-long ROO Residency , The Kit: Made by Martha explores the life and work of Martha Goddard, inventor of the first standardized rape kit. While working a crisis hotline for runaway teenage girls in 1972 Chicago, Goddard ponders how rape could be investigated as an actual crime rather than a made-up story. At a time when sexual violence in America is rarely prosecu...

  AN INVITATION Bechdel Project invites you to attend a consciousness-raising discussion on how men might take a more active role in ending sexism and male domination. Sunday, March 12th, 2:30pm at Bechdel Project headquarters in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. All men are born good. All men were raised in a culture of male domination. Men have been trained to think of themselves as the preferred sex. Men have been trained to think of "female" traits as weak and inferior. All of this has had an incredibly negative effect on women (and men) worldwide. At this time, men wield the majority of political and economic power in the world. Yet, it is almost exclusively women who lead the work on ending sexism. It is never the job of a marginalized or victimized group to fix their oppressors. What, then, is the role that men should play in ending sexism and male domination, and how might that look? We hope you'll join us for an open discussion, for men (all genders welcome), facilitated by...

We're excited to collaborate with Todd London to create a three-day retreat here at BECHDEL PROJECT this coming weekend as part of The Third Bohemia!!! Founded in 2011 by Todd London, The Third Bohemia is a series of national gatherings of independent theatre artists, along with artists and thinkers from other fields, focused on sharing, teaching, and making work. The goals of these working sessions—or mini-camps, include: 1) To inspire and energize the participants in hopes of fueling their ongoing work; 2) To incite cross-disciplinary thinking and creation; 3) To explore the potential of peer-artist-to-peer-artist teaching; 4) To seed the national theatre's native creativity by connecting its artists outside of existing institutional structures; 5) To create a fluid, self-determining national theatre of artists. Following Bechdel Project's values, which encourage its artists to bring their whole selves, this 3B will be unique. The retreat has been carefully structured a...

Bechdel Project, a feminist arts incubator, which awarded its year-long ROO Residency to Jeanne Dorsey in May, is launching its latest initiative, the FIFE Fellowship , and the writers that will make up the inaugural fellows. The FIFE is a multi-year, artist-led fellowship for feminist writers that provides support to develop stories that have the power to change the world. The fellowship draws inspiration from the writing of bell hooks' and takes its name from her book, Feminism Is For Everybody (FIFE), and focuses on the concepts of intersectional feminism, building diverse community, and the wholistic integration of art into life. (Bechdel Project is a family-positive space and encourages radical self-care for artists.) Throughout the fellowship, each writer will have access to Bechdel Project's studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to write, workshop, and present work along with guidance and support from the Bechdel Project staff. Fellows will be provided enrichment opportunitie...

NEW YORK CITY: The Bechdel Project has selected Jeanne Dorsey to receive the inaugural Room of One’s Own (ROO) Writer’s Residency. Named after the 1929 book by Virginia Woolf, the ROO Residency was created for feminist writers of any intersection looking to develop a new work based on women from history. Dorsey was selected from over 100 applicants from around the world to fully develop her new play The Kit: Made by Martha. A 2021 Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Commission, the play is inspired by Martha Goddard, whose sexual assault evidence collection kit revolutionized how cases against sexual assault perpetrators were built and standardized the compassionate treatment of rape victims without revictimizing them. “We’re excited to work with Jeanne because we believe The Kit can do more than teach about a woman who has impacted the lives of millions,” said co-creative director Jens Rasmussen in a statement. “We believe it has the power to change the way people think.” The year-long res...

Bechdel Project has announced Jeanne Dorsey as the recipient of the inaugural Room of One's Own (ROO) Writer's Residency. During the residency, Ms. Dorsey will fully develop her new play "The Kit: Made by Martha," which was a 2021  Ensemble Studio Theatre /Sloan Commission. The play is inspired by Martha Goddard, whose sexual assault evidence collection kit revolutionized how cases against sexual assault perpetrators were built and standardized the compassionate treatment of rape victims without revictimizing them. This inaugural year the ROO Residency was open to feminist writers (of any intersection) looking to develop a new work based on women from history. Ms. Dorsey was selected for the ROO Residency from over 100 applicants from around the world. Jeanne Dorsey Jeanne Dorsey is a New York based writer of plays, screenplays, teleplays, and essays. Her work has been published by Seal Press, Smith and Krauss, Heinemann Press, and Applause Books and produced by Ensem...

By Caroline Kelly Franklin, author of The Bronte Girls A recurring theme of THE BRONTE GIRLS is women not needing a hero to stand in front and protect them but rather needing champions to fight on their side. From beginning to end working with the Bechdel Project to produce The Bronte Girls Trilogy Staged Reading Event was one of the best artistic experiences of my life. Finding someone willing to take on a trilogy felt nearly impossible before I started working with Bechdel Project. They have obliterated my expectations from the first "yes." The event included not only a rehearsed staged reading of all three parts but also food and cocktails between each piece making it a full-day endeavor. Bechdel connected me with directors to interview, assisted with casting where needed, provided a space to rehearse and perform, constant moral and creative support, helped curate an industry guest list, promoted the work, and collaborated on every element of production. Because of Bechdel...