There was a standing ovation and even some tears at the Abbey Theatre this afternoon as the movement for equality in Irish theatre held their last public event of the year.
Actors, theatre professionals, writers, and academics including Camille O'Sullivan, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, director of the Gate Selina Cartmell and Rory O'Neill were among those who spoke at the event.
This may be the end of the public campaign but some of the Waking The Feminists core team will continue working with the theatre community to "shape and implement appropriate gender equality training, resources and other supports over the coming year".
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Anne Enright and Abbey co-director Graham McLaren speak at Thursday's Waking The Feminists event, One More Thing
At the event, Waking The Feminists also released provisional figures from the research it has been conducting into gender equality in Irish theatre and they have found that the top three Arts Council funded theatre organisations in Ireland - the Abbey, the Gate and the Dublin Theatre Festival - had lower percentages for female participants than other Irish arts organisations.
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Love/Hate actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Director of the Gate Theatre Selina Cartmell speak at Thurday's Waking The Feminists event, One More Thing
Waking The Feminists campaign director Lian Bell applauded the Abbey for putting in place guidelines for gender equality and also said that there had been a real sea change in Irish theatre since the campaign began.
“The campaign has been more successful that we could have hoped for this time last year, and is now recognised internationally as a trailblazer. The Irish theatre community has been changed forever.” she said.
