Equality, diversity and inclusion in theatre and performance Practices: challenges and resistances in building a cultural democracy

Abstract

This research examines power and gender relations in contemporary Portuguese theatre, problematizing the promises of democratization from the April 25th revolution in light of the persistence of patriarchal structures in theatrical institutions. Through eleven interviews (Brinkmann e Kvale, 2014) with women artists, the study reveals how gender inequalities are systematically perpetuated, from the beginning of theatre training/education through to production structures, creating multiple barriers that intersect gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation. The analysis demonstrates that, despite the revolutionary promises of cultural democratization, women remain systematically excluded from positions of power and decision-making in the Portuguese theatre field. However, strategies of creative resistance also emerge, configuring new forms of organization and alternative power that challenge traditional paradigms of hierarchy and domination. The study concludes that, with these resistance practices, women artists seek not merely to occupy existing positions of power, but to create alternative spaces based on logics of horizontality, inclusion, and social transformation, prefiguring concrete possibilities for structural change in the Portuguese theatre field.