Windsor Fringe Festival organisers rejected director's application because she's a woman

Upset: festival told Olorunfemi Fagunwa that “a male director would be better”
collect from Olorunfemi

The organisers of a theatre festival have apologised for “unacceptable and hurtful” comments after they turned down an application from a woman director, telling her they wanted a man for the job.

Olorunfemi Fagunwa, 30, had applied to take part in the Kenneth Branagh New Writing Award at Windsor Fringe Festival, after it advertised for directors to work on three short-listed plays.

But she was told organisers “agreed that a male director would be better for this play”.

She said: “What upset me was that it wasn’t on merit, it was just because he is a male he is better.

“If it was because I’m unqualified or lack experience or even if they had just written and said unfortunately this time we can’t work with you that would have been fine.

“I expect more from the Kenneth Branagh New Writing Award committee and thought they would at the very least encourage diverse voices in helping to tell stories and not just with regards to writers, but also with directors. Isn’t that part of the reason we have new writing awards?”

The festival apologised after Ms Fagunwa, whose own play Skinny Bitches was performed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, posted their letter to Facebook with the heading “When you find out that having a penis makes you a better theatre director”.

It said all its directors were “selected on merit only”, adding: “The Windsor Fringe would like to apologise for the unacceptable and hurtful contents of the email to Olorunfemi Fagunwa.

“The contents of the email were a result of extremely poor communication and lack of judgment and not a reflection on the selection process,” said the festival. “All applicants are judged on merit only and it is a priority of Windsor Fringe to promote and deliver equality and diversity as we support new and emerging artists.”

The volunteer-run festival was set up in 1999 and almost 3,000 writers from 38 countries have applied to take part in the drama award, which has been running for 13 years.

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