Last week the Abbey Theatre and its Director Fiach Mac Conghail drew some harsh criticism on social media after announcing their 1916 Centenary Programme Waking The Nation. Out of the ten plays featured on the programme just one was written by a female playwright, Ali White. This disappointing statistic prompted a social media debate spearheaded by women like Lian Bell working in the area surrounding representation of women in theatre, and in other areas under the hashtag #WakingTheFeminists.

As with politics, visibility is crucial. If I was an aspiring female playwright, the Abbey's record wouldn't inspire me. #WakingTheFeminists

— Sinéad Gleeson (@sineadgleeson) November 1, 2015

The movement has quickly garnered support worldwide, with actresses Debra Messing, Martha Plimpton and Dana Delaney lending their voices to the cause.

I STAND WITH YOU WOMEN IN THEATRE #IRELAND ??? #THEABBEYTHEATRE pic.twitter.com/gGkCbNdAFZ — Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) November 8, 2015

#WakingTheFeminists @brianfobyrne #Ireland #WomenInTheater pic.twitter.com/0il7ok8QQa — Martha Plimpton (@MarthaPlimpton) November 9, 2015

#WakingTheFeminists pic.twitter.com/P9qpfjttYR — Dana Delany (@DanaDelany) November 9, 2015

Unfortunately, this massive gap between the performance of plays written by men and women is a longstanding issue. Since 2006 The Abbey has produced or presented 111 plays, and only 14 of these were written by women. To give you another number, it's a measly 12.6 per cent of all performances over a whole DECADE. In response to the backlash, The Abbey are now hosting a Waking The Feminists Public Debate this Thursday 12 November at 1pm, to address some of the criticisms that have been put to them. Hopefully this meeting will spark the beginning of a larger and much needed conversation around the importance of equal representation and treatment for women in all fields, including the arts, politics and business. Find out more about the meeting here or follow the progress of the #WakingTheFeminists movement on Twitter here. Sign the petition for equality in Irish Theatre here.