3GT values & Commitments
3GT was founded in 2011 by three straight, white, cis women playwrights over 40, with the purpose of amplifying the voices of a continuously under-represented population: women playwrights.
It became immediately clear that even among marginalized women playwrights, there were still huge disparities in resources and opportunities for members of certain intersectional communities. 3GT has been creating programs and additional resources targeted at the most disenfranchised members of our sisterhood ever since.
Ten years later, 3GT’s playwright cohort has become multiracial and multigenerational, and includes people assigned female at birth and transwomen. As we’ve grown, we’ve deliberately sought out new faces for positions of artistic and administrative leadership. Today, 50% of our core leadership team is Black and/or Latina women, 50% are 25-35 years old, and over 60% are queer. As we celebrate our Tenth Anniversary this year, we’re proud that hundreds of SF Bay Area theatre artists who share our vision - across ages, perspectives, and genders - now collaborate with 3GT to “put woman's work onstage, where it belongs.”
3GT has become a community, and like all communities, it is important to establish shared values. 3GT rejects white supremacy, heteronormativity, ageism, ableism, sexism, misogyny, and other socio-economic means of oppression that do harm to already marginalized populations. 3GT also acknowledges that these problems are woven into the fabric of our society, and that eradicating them will require a commitment to doing the hard work of unpacking privilege within our artistic community and society more broadly. To be a member of the 3GT community is to share in our common values, and to share in our commitments to reducing harms we perpetuate.
This is a living document that will grow and change with our learning and deepening understanding of what it means to be anti-racist as people and as an organization.
3GT values
● Representation. The voices of those usually left out of the conversation matter to us, a lot! 3GT is a home base for writers and artists who are largely left out of the American mainstream. We amplify their voices.
● Intersectionality. Our playwrights and collaborators come from diverse personal experiences. Acknowledging and celebrating what we share, and what we don’t, is critical to healthy interpersonal relationships, especially creative and professional ones.
● Economic Accessibility. Most of our productions are free, pay-what you-can tickets are always available at the door when we do charge, and no one is ever turned away because of an inability to pay.
● Compensation. All artists, technicians, and other partners are paid for the work they do for us.
● Harm Reduction. Art isn’t easy, neither is justice. While we encourage people to take risks and make mistakes, we ask that our collaborators come to the work with a desire to not perpetuate harm, and to come enthusiastically to the collective work of disrupting cycles of oppression in our society.
● Belonging. 3GT is a living, ever-changing community. We want all artists, not just our playwrights, to feel at home at 3GT, to bring their full selves into the room so everyone can loudly and responsibly share their voice.
● Celebration. Life is hard, and making art can be even harder. At the very least, we want everyone to have FUN working with us. Remember when working on a play was fun? We do!
● Excellence. Our goal is to help Bay Area women playwrights make the best theatre they can.
We ask all of 3GT’s partners and collaborators to join us in making the following Commitments:
● Create space for other artists and collaborators to share their voices at full volume.
● Be an accomplice in good trouble, not an “ally.” *
● Be open to exploring the difference between subversive/provocative writing vs. harm-causing writing.
● Believe people when they say they’ve been harmed.
● Celebrate opportunities to disrupt harm and cycles of harm.
● Be humble in the opportunities to grow as artists and humans
● Create time and space to slow down, to pause and contemplate the work.
● Be accountable for harm by accepting consequences for trust broken.
3GT has a professional imperative and curatorial responsibility both to our artists and our audiences. If we believe that a script or collaborator does not abide by these commitments, 3GT may choose to end the relationship. 3GT has no desire to be punitive, but the Company will be assertive when necessary to protect our community.
COVID-19 Vaccinations and Masking Indoors Required
This is a living document and will be updated as protocols evolve for live productions.
3GT BLM Support & Practice
3Girls Theatre is working to actively address the issues illuminated so effectively by our Black leaders. As a multi-racial, multi-generational organization, we understand that the work of combating racism in our Company, community–and the wider world–will require our attention not just today, but every day.
Like everyone in our industry, 3GT recognizes that we have a long way to go to address the systemic racism that permeates our art and culture. When our Company was founded in 2011, it was led by an all-white artistic team and served a largely white cohort of women playwrights. As we enter our second decade, 3GT’s diverse leadership team is committed to amplifying the voices of women theatre-makers who truly reflect the our community. That includes actively working to increase the number of BIPOC women playwrights, dramaturgs, directors and collaborating artists across all five of our programs. In addition, the 3GT Investigates program now focuses exclusively on theatre projects that document the lived experiences of BIPOC women, as told and led by BIPOC women. We are committed to purposeful, ongoing change.
3GT supports the following organizations that are working to protect Black lives. These are but a few of the amazing organizations who are doing the work right now. If there’s an organization that you would like for us to highlight, please feel free to connect with us at info@3girlstheatre.org. Donate, volunteer, share the word!
3GT Land Acknowledgement statement
3Girls Theater Company is located on the territory of Yelamu, today known as San Francisco, the ancestral and unceded land of the Costanoan-speaking Ramaytush Ohlone people. 3GT recognizes that, as the original stewards of this land, the Ohlone people understood the interconnectedness of all things and maintained harmony with nature for millennia.
As Bay Area residents, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on the Ohlone traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives past, present and emerging. We affirm the sovereign rights of the Ramaytush Community as First Peoples.
Learn more about the Ramaytush Ohlone People, their history, and how you can recognize and uplift them today:
Donate:
https://www.ramaytush.org/donate.html
Learn and Explore:
http://www.ramaytush.com/Native-land.ca
https://www.history.com/news/californias-little-known-genocide
https://rootwisdom.com/support-indigenous-leadership
Read:
A Time of Little Choice by Randall Milliken
Native Americans at Mission San Jose by Randall Milliken
The Ohlone Past and Present, edited by Lowell Bean
The Costanoan Indians, edited by Robert Heizer
Inigo of Rancho Posolmi by Laurence Shoup and Randall Milliken
The First Spanish Entry into the San Francisco Bay, edited by John Galvin
We encourage you to find out the land you occupy on native-land.ca and join us in seeking to dismantle ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.
3GT covid-19 practices & protocol
COVID-19 Vaccinations and Masking Indoors Information
This is a living document and will be updated as local practices and official guidance evolve for live events.
Updated November 2023
THEATER ATTENDANCE
3GT is working collaboratively with our rental partners to ensure the care and safety of our audience as well as our artistic collaborators. Our performance venues have their own specific guidelines we are adhering to. Please review the information provided below of the location of the next 3GT show you are attending:
We are no longer require proof of vaccination from the audience. However, since 3GT serves a vulnerable population, we urge all of our audience members to consider taking every precaution available to them so that we can continue to serve our community. We thank you for showing your care for the community through mask wearing and any other precautions you can take.
The Phoenix Theatre (414 Mason Street, San Francisco)
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3GT will be taking the following precautions for your protection:
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Patrons, even if fully vaccinated, are required to be masked. Don’t worry, masks will be made available by the House Manager if you forgot to bring one.
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We will NOT be serving concession food and drink indoors.
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There will be NO LATE SEATING to ensure the quality of our check in system as well as minimize distractions within the theater during the performance.
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Actors will be tested before performing, and will perform without a mask.
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Digital ticketing will remain our only method of delivery for all tickets.
VIEWING FROM HOME
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Those who are unable to attend our live performances need not despair! Since 2021, 3GT has made our shows available whenever possible via our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/3GirlsTheatre). Sign up for our mailing list to get notified of our upcoming readings and performances!