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Meet the Maker: The women of FemmeFest 2026

Justin L. Mack

Collage of four portraits: a joyful Black woman with braided hair outdoors, a thoughtful woman with blue eyes and burgundy lipstick indoors, a red-haired woman holding a grumpy brown cat against patterned wallpaper, and a smiling woman with light brown hair in front of a stone wall. — Clockwise from top left, Alicia Sims, Elle Tyler, Jaqueline Ridberg Larabee and Robin Kildall are four of the 40 women powering FemmeFest 2026. Photos: Courtesy of IF Theatre

Meet the women theater-makers debuting their dream projects at a new Indianapolis festival.

Why it matters: IF Theatre's inaugural FemmeFest builds on a 15-year history of breaking down barriers for local women playwrights.

By the numbers: According to IF Theatre, just 30% of produced plays nationwide are written by women, and 1.3% by trans or nonbinary authors.

Driving the news: Four projects, ranging from musical comedy cabaret to community practice, make up FemmeFest's inaugural lineup.

The projects were selected by a committee of representatives from IF Theatre and partner organization Betty Rage Productions.
Each selected work received hands-on mentorship and up to $1,000 in financial support.

What they're saying: "I am excited that there were so many women that wanted to be a part of this project," said Betty Rage artistic director Callie Burk-Hartz. "All four shows that we selected tell very different and interesting stories in terms of content, structure and social location. All in all, there are over 40 femme artists helping to make this happen and that is pretty wonderful."

Flashback: IF Theatre leaders say FemmeFest is an evolution of the DivaFest program, founded in 2011 and later rebranded to the Div(x) Fellowship.

Zoom in: Here are the four projects, and the women bringing them to life.

💬 "BS Conversations:" produced by Alicia "The UnCuT Diamond" Sims.

A monodrama about passengers on a broken-down bus outside of a devastated rural community working through their personal and political BS.

😵‍💫 "Female Troubles:" Composed by Elle Tyler.

A musical comedy cabaret inspired by the underrepresented experiences of those who have lived in female bodies.

🪧 "Out of Yard Signs:" Written by Jaqueline Ridberg Larabee and directed by Ebony Chappel.

A political dark comedy about the first Black woman mayor of a mid-sized city preparing for a campaign against a well-backed opponent.

👭 "The Shared Stage:" Led by Robin Kildall.

A community practice that gives six emerging women in theater the opportunity to direct a short-form play focusing on skills they want to build as directors.

If you go: FemmeFest 2026 is March 26-29 at IF Theatre.

Single-show tickets start at $15, or see all four for $50.

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Meet the Maker: The women of FemmeFest 2026

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