Undoubtedly, the analysis of roles, representation and visibility of women across a range of artistic roles highlights pertinent gaps and challenges which will only be solved with consistent action.

The Abbey has recognised its role in making vital change happen, firstly with the publication of our Eight Guiding Principles for Gender Equality in 2016 and through our involvement with and facilitation of the Gender Equality Policy Working Group.

Our plan is to measure gender equality in our programme in five-year periods starting from 2017. There will be ongoing flexibility within programming for a given year but over the course of any five year period the artistic programme will achieve gender balance.

Over the coming months, we will be continuing our commitment to gender equality, with a specific focus on diversity and inclusion at the Abbey. We have partnered with Olwen Dawe, a policy analyst with a specific interest in gender equality and diversity, policy and advocacy, to develop a Diversity and Equality Strategy for the Abbey.

We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Irish theatre community to achieve gender equality. It is together that we will transform Irish theatre.

The #WakingTheFeminists analysis can be found and downloaded here.