Good Kids focuses on the aftermath of an alleged rape at a high school party.<\/p><\/div>\n

The New Play Initiative started in 2010 with the idea of creating a performance piece that could be done at several, if not all, of the universities in the conference. \u201cWe thought that we could do something together that none of us could do individually,\u201d says Alan MacVey, chair of the Theatre Arts Department at the University of Iowa. \u201cMy idea at the time was to find a way to not only encourage the writing of plays by women, but also to encourage plays to have multiple women\u2019s roles in them \u2014 good roles for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Male-heavy casts drive many productions. Take any of the big Broadway hits of the last decade: The Book of Mormon<\/i>, Rock of Ages<\/i>, Jersey Boys<\/i>. In the Big Ten plays, though, actresses won\u2019t merely be someone\u2019s wife, sister, or mistress. In fact, the initiative has guidelines to ensure female students play a leading lady: the Eliza Doolittle, the Maria von Trapp, the Roxie Hart. Each play must have at least six female roles.<\/p>\n