Equity and the Federation of Entertainment Unions presents The Dramatic Lives of Edith Craig, actor, director, costumier and theatre pioneer, with Dr Katherine Cockin, biographer of Edith Craig (1869 – 1947). Katherine will give a talk on Craig's place in twentieth-century theatre history and lesbian history, her activities in the British women's suffrage movement and relationship to feminism. Craig was responsible for numerous firsts on the British stage but her contribution has been repetitively written out. She is one of Britain's most important, but least famous theatre directors who learnt many of her skills as a costumier and performer at the Lyceum Theatre, London, with Sir Henry Irving and mother, Dame Ellen Terry. George Bernard Shaw was to remark on the surprising state of affairs in the Terry family, whereby Edward Gordon Craig was famous but produced relatively few plays whereas his sister, Edith Craig, was little known but appeared to have produced everything. Craig was responsible for the Pioneer Players theatre society and she flourished in the period before the historic moment in 1928 when lesbianism was the subject of public censure, on the trial and censorship of the novel The Well of Loneliness, written by her friend and neighbour Radclyffe Hall. Help us celebrate and reclaim Edith Craig's place in history. The event is free but places are strictly limited and registration is necessary: for a place email mbeckmann@equity.org.uk We will also be showcasing a new series of portraits of LGBT film actors, directors and filmmakers, commissioned by the UK Film Council to raise the debate about the demand for greater on-screen diversity.

The Phoenix Artist Club is located in the heart of Theatreland in central London underneath the Phoenix Theatre. The entrance is on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Phoenix Street. There are two local tube stations: Leicester Square (Northern and Piccadilly Line) and Tottenham Court Road (Northern and Central Line).