Vicky Featherstone tops theatre power list for harassment response
Written by News on 05/01/2018
Vicky Featherstone has been named the most influential person in UK theatre following her response to harassment allegations.
The Royal Court’s artistic director topped this year’s Stage 100 list of the most influential people working in UK theatre and the performing arts.
Featherstone, 50, announced the No Grey Area “day of action” when allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein first broke, urging people to speak out against abuse of power in the industry.
She said it was “a total shock and honour” to be recognised by The Stage “for our work around No Grey Area, especially amongst this list of theatre heroines and heroes”.
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“It is affirmation to the brave women and men who spoke out about their experiences that they are being taken seriously and proof that my theatre colleagues, with the power to do so, are listening and that we can achieve fundamental change.
“As an industry, we are once more leading the way.”
Featherstone moved up from 39th place in the previous year, and is the third woman to top the list as a solo entry.
After allegations against Kevin Spacey hit British theatre as well as Hollywood, the Royal Court drafted an industry-wide code and published a 30-point plan to help prevent sexual harassment in the industry.
The Stage editor Alistair Smith said Featherstone was a natural choice.
“Creating a list of the 100 most influential people in theatre is always a difficult task, but especially so at a time when theatre is still coming to terms with abuses of power within the entertainment industry,” he said.
“In that context, a number of figures challenging the status quo feature within the full list, but none have been more prominent than Vicky Featherstone.
“Through her bold and swift action in the wake of allegations in the US against Harvey Weinstein, she ensured that British theatre took the opportunity to face up to its own historic and ongoing challenges around workplace harassment.”
Other entries to the list include Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hull City Of Culture director Martin Green and incoming artistic director at the Young Vic, Kwame Kwei-Armah.
(c) Sky News 2018: Vicky Featherstone tops theatre power list for harassment response
