A Bit About Us
Cross-Stitch Theater Company was formed in an effort to provide more theatrical leadership opportunities for women. We are dedicated to establishing an equitable theater environment which places particular emphasis on female artistic expression. Our hope is that our efforts will help to bring lesser-heard voices to the forefront, and will inspire women of all ages to seek and create platforms of their own.
Our Mission
Cross-Stitch Theater Company is dedicated to creating a fair and equitable creative environment. We believe that artists should be valued as highly as their work, and that all contributors to a project deserve to be treated with respect and admiration, regardless of social, educational, or economic backgrounds.
Through our time working in the Pittsburgh theater scene, and in the general workforce, we have been disheartened by the lack of access to leadership opportunities for women. As such, it is our goal to highlight theater that is written and directed by this under-utilized group, and performed by everyone.
Our Vision
Cross-Stitch Theater Company believes that artistic employment should be about art rather than power. As female artists ourselves, we have observed the lack of opportunities afforded to women in theater, and in the world more broadly. Women are often passed over for directorial and production positions, and their written work is often overshadowed by the works of canonical authors who are, almost by default, male. We believe that theater is an ideal medium through which to address inequality and important social issues of all kinds.
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By focusing on working with women’s writing of the past and present, we envision our company also providing opportunities for women in the future, not only through artistic employment, but by offering a model of what women can achieve and what they should expect from their peers. Our hope is that we can empower and encourage our audiences to appreciate those who are underrepresented in every vocation.
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We do not seek to exclude men, or anyone who has been placed in a position of perceived social privilege; but, rather, to enrich the work experience of everyone involved, by reversing the male-dominated power dynamic so deeply ingrained in society. Our hope is that emphasizing voices of those who are too often silenced will expose our company members and our audiences to new, potentially perspective-altering, thoughts and ideas.