Five African American women playwrights have been selected by the The Upstart Crow Project to join 32 other women playwrights to adapt all 37 of William Shakespeare's plays into a brand new contemporary canon which will be produced around the country in the 2012-2013 season.

The Upstart Crow Project is fundraising to commission 37 female American playwrights of diverse generational cultural and stylistic backgrounds. Women are criminally underrepresented on the American stage - this season in NY only 12.6% of new plays were the work of female writers. We all know by now that women are equal to men in terms of revolutionary spirit, creativity, complexity, humor, and yes, brilliance. Want to make a fierce political statement and an artistic statement at the same time? Your tax-deductible donation goes straight to commissioning a kickass play. This is some serious bang for your buck. Click here to visit the Upstart Crow Budget Page to learn more about what your donation will do and what you'll get in return.

To learn more about the five playwrights listed above, click their names under the "Playwrights and Members on the Web" listing on the right which links to their website. Including the 62 playwrights with an Internet presence, there are also 32 more African American playwrights listed bringing the total number to 94. Coupled with the 81 African American theatre companies (with web sites) around the country, it appears we may be in the Golden Age of African American theatre.

Source: The GirlieGirl Army