The Start of Women in Literature
           As a director, actor, and avid theatre lover, I am always looking for new plays and musicals. However, the search for plays that are written by women with female characters at the center of the story is more challenging than it should be in 2026.
I decided that these female-led stories were the stories I wanted to share. Women in Literature Productions is a summer theatre organization based in Rochester NY, founded by me, Danielle B. Walker, and Madeline Leahy. We are a pre-professional theatre featuring young performers from high school to college all coming from a range of theatre experience. We maintain the goal of bringing a positive theatre experience to all our cast members, and in furthering their theatre education without any cost to participate.
Past Productions
Our past productions include Anne of Green Gables, originally written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Little Women, originally written by Louisa May Alcott, Pride & Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, and most recently Lost Girl, by Broadway nominated and renowned playwright Kimberly Belflower.
What do the leads of each of these plays and pieces of literature have in common? Anne Shirley, Jo March, Elizabeth Bennet, and Wendy Darling are all leading heroines in their own stories. They teach young girls to be fiercely independent, quick witted, and bravely navigated the transition from childhood to adulthood. These four roles were also played by four different actresses in Women in Lit’s Productions, all with their own fully fleshed out take on each of these iconic roles in women’s literature.
A New Take on Wendy Darling
Our most recent production as of summer 2026, Lost Girl, focuses on Wendy Darling after Neverland coping with grief, growing up into a young adult, and moving on. Lost Girl is a beautiful piece that a lot of young women can connect to. This modern retelling of Wendy Darling’s story was my favorite piece I have directed thus far and makes me so excited for my future as a director.
In this play, I loved how Peter Pan was not portrayed as this perfect “golden boy.” Rather, we got to see Peter as this immature young adult, hoping that Wendy would stay in love with him through idealization alone.
This conceptual piece with a full cast of complex characters was brilliantly performed, as our cast members really did take care of the intricate meaning in the script and their individual characters.
Women at the Center of Their Story
From literature classics to new modern retellings, these powerful women that are at the center of their stories deserve to be onstage. Women have always been writing plays; they are simply just not always in the stories that were being told. As plays, musicals, and other forms of art taught at collegiate institutions are still dominated by white men.
Finding plays and pieces of art that pass the “Bechdel Test” remains to be more difficult than expected. Female characters deserve to be flawed fully developed people. This all goes to show that women written by women will always be the strongest heroines. We hope to share a little of that female theatre magic at Women in Lit Productions and beyond.
Now, I have included some of my favorite quotes from each of these female leads from our four productions below.
Notable Quotes from Past Productions
Anne Shirley
ANNE SHIRLEY- Anne of Green Gables (original novel)
“Dear old world, you are lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
Jo March
JO MARCH- Little Women (2019 film adaptation)
“Women have minds, and they have souls as well as just hearts, and they’ve got ambition, and talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying love is all a woman is fit for.”
Lizzy Bennet
ELIZABETH BENNET- Pride & Prejudice (original novel)
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
Wendy Darling
WENDY DARLING- Lost Girl (theatrical play)
“We were kids, you know. He was a boy. I was a girl. Boys make big promises. Girls know better than to believe them, but they go along with them anyway. I went along with him anyway. The first time I saw him-
It doesn’t matter when I first saw him. Before I saw him, I was making him up. The last time I saw him, he said he’d be back. He said I should wait. And I did. I do. Because he said I should. But I can’t anymore. I won’t.”
