WTF Happened: #WakingTheFeminists and the Movement that Changed Irish Theatre

The story of the grassroots #WakingTheFeminists movement in Irish theater, a campaign that changed how we saw the world and reshaped the future both on and off the stage.

When the Abbey Theatre’s 2016 centenary program excluded women artists, it sparked a nationwide movement. What began as an outrage on social media evolved into a meticulously organized yearlong campaign that transformed the Irish theater landscape—and resonated beyond.

WTF Happened reveals the behind-the-scenes, untold story of the groundbreaking #WakingTheFeminists grassroots movement for gender equality in Irish theater, 2015-16. Leading activists, academics, historians, and arts professionals, with the support of the Irish Theatre Institute, compile their knowledge into a multidisciplinary archive relevant to gender studies, women’s history, arts and theater, cultural policy and governance, social justice, and contemporary history. Included within these pages are photographs, visual examples of social media interactions, and memorabilia of the movement as kept by its organizers and both the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland.

As well as being an important and exhaustive historical record of a short-lived but highly impactful collective campaign, this book serves as an inspiring guide for future activists, offering crucial lessons on mobilizing grassroots efforts to achieve systemic change. It underscores the ongoing work needed to achieve full gender equality, both in the arts and in society at large, and puts #WakingTheFeminists in context with the Irish activist movements that came before and after.

Great theater changes the atmosphere in the room and reshapes how we think about our lives. Great campaigning changes how we see the world and reshapes our future.