Tonic was created in 2011 to catalyse change in UK theatre. For too long women had been underrepresented on stage and we decided to shift that. Now we need your help to expand this work by increasing opportunities for girls and young women.

So, what has Tonic been doing? 

We’ve been working with the country's biggest theatres including the RSC, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Chichester Festival Theatre and Sheffield Theatres, helping them redress the balance on their stages and creative teams. We work with the people who can drive real changes for women across theatre: Artistic Directors, Chief Executives and senior creative staff.

We’ve published 100 Great Plays for Women, to share the wealth of high-quality writing that exists for female-heavy casts, dispelling the myth that "there aren't any good plays for women".

While we’ll continue working with those at the top of the industry, we’re now turning our attention to the grassroots. Specifically, young people. One of the most effective ways we'll create change tomorrow is by challenging expectations of young people today. If another wave of young people enter adulthood assuming that women have less to do and say on stage - because that's all they've ever known - change will take longer to achieve.

To begin, we're commissioning and publishing a range of new plays for young actors to perform. They’ll have all-female or mainly-female casts and will be written specifically to give girls the opportunity to play complex, challenging, and inspiring roles. We're calling the series Platform, because it will create a much-needed platform on which girls and young women can share their voices and have their stories told. Given that most young people who participate in drama are female, we know demand for these plays will be great and expect them to be performed by schools and youth theatres for many years to come.

We've raised nearly the total amount needed to commission, publish and distribute the first three plays in the Platform series (total cost £39,000). But we need one more push to raise the outstanding amount of £2,500. In particular we want to be able to pass the published plays on to schools and youth theatres at cost (£3 per book) because it’s crucial they’re available to all young people. 

If, like us, you believe theatre needs to change and you want to get doing, rather than just talking about it please show your support for Tonic and specifically Platform. We have shown that change is possible and with your help we can take the next vital step.

Thank you,

Lucy Kerbel

Director and Founder, Tonic Theatre