Gender Imbalance — new stats

Stats are always interesting, even if a bit dispiriting. Here’s the latest news about musical theatre. Data complied by writers and composers Kate Marlais, Meg McGrady and Sarah Middleton, for Mercury Musical Developments (dedicated to new musical theatre), shows evidence of a large disparity in the gender balance of composers, lyricists and playwrights in the UK: 74% of all credited writers are male, with 26% female and non-binary, and only 9% of West End composers female or non-binary. The data comes from researching 500 productions across 132 venues in London and beyond this year. Within musical theatre across the UK, 83% of composers are male, compared to 78% of lyricists and 65% of librettists. Over the year, 60 male, 24 female and 3 non-binary musical theatre writers were commissioned to create brand new shows. Across all genres, playwrights/librettists had the greatest gender balance with a split of 69% male, 30% female and 1% non-binary. Within music and song writing there was less female/non-binary representation with composers 80% male, 18% female and 2% non-binary; and lyricists 78% male, 20% female and 2% non-binary. The data shows that the gender split of writers of musical theatre is even more unbalanced than the writers of plays. To address these drawbacks, and create more opportunities in the sector, Mercury Musical Developments is developing five years of initiatives to champion female and non-binary writers. More details: Mercury Musical Developments and Women’s Musical Theatre Initiative

© Aleks Sierz

British theatre composer gender imbalance Kate Marlais lyricist Meg McGrady Mercury Musical Developments musical theatre musicals playwrights Sarah Middleton statistics West End Women's Musical Theatre Initiative writers