One thing that you might not know theatre if you are not involved, is the striking contrast between the quantity of female and male actors. At school the acting major was probably split at least 60/40 (female/male), and pretty much every audition I've attended has had similar if not even more skewed results.
Now, as an actor, the good old Y chromosome really pays off. As a director it gets to be a little bit more frustrating.
The great irony, however, is that for some reason, it seems like scripts keep being written with more male characters. While I can understand that, maybe, way back in 1941, this situation might have been reversed, I fail to grasp just why it continues into the twenty first century.
My theory is that many playwrights have failed to apply the guidelines of the free market to their craft. After all, if a surf gear manufactures discovered that their woman's surf shoes outsold the men's, would they continue to make more men's shoes than women’s? Of course not!
This is why I have taken it upon myself to predominately write plays that either gender balanced (such as The Communication Age), or female heavy (such Who is Ruth? and Just Like in Real Life).
Hmm... I guess entire rant is just an excuse to trick people into reading my plays.
Did I mention that the Matthew J. Hanson.com store now has mini-buttons? They're just like regular buttons, only smaller!
And tote bags!
