These are Sharon King-Campbell's speaking notes from the 2026 International Women's Day Luncheon, where her appointment as PerSIStence Theatre's new Producing Artistic Director was announced:

When Persistence Theatre first announced its existence, I wrote Jenn right away. We met up at the Ship and I told her about this piece I had been working on, that I thought might be a good fit for her new company. 

In that meeting, Jenn described a vision for an organization that wasn’t just a feminist theatre company – it was a feminism company that prioritized theatre as a strategy for making change. 

I loved it. I love it. 

Theatre is the means of making change that I am best at, but it is not the only way. 

Commissioning and unveiling the statue of Armine Gosling, for example, was an incredible effort that will stand for decades to bring forward the hard-fought victory of women’s suffrage.

That piece of mine that I pitched at the Ship, Original, was in Persistence’s second season. It dealt with stories about women, from origin myth through European history and to the moment of production. 

Stories hold the power to shape society, so it’s worth examining the stories that get told and how we tell them. 

Where are the women in these stories? What other voices have been reduced, or erased? What stories get privileged over others? That piece wove through the Women’s March on Versailles in 1789, and through the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. Women, together, shouting for change.

Back then I really felt like the world was about to end. I had no idea how it could get worse. 

That poor, sweet, summer child. 

The idea of picking an example of the work still to be done is overwhelming. Intersectional feminism requires active listening, and right now there are so many voices clamouring to be heard; those that have been excluded from the stories that have been shaping our society.

Voices that are crying out for food in a war zone, 

voices of parents who are afraid to drop their kids off at school, 

voices of victims that haven’t been believed despite thousands of pages of evidence that support their stories. 

We have a lot of voices still to uplift, so that we can help to change the shape of our society.

The thing that theatre does particularly well is that it brings people together. Physically, in a room together, just like we are together right now. 

Theatre is an opportunity to share an experience, with a personal, emotional connection. 

When everything works just right, theatre can build a moment of communion that connects each person in the room to every other person in the room, as humans, the most elemental thing we have in common and the best reason to take care of one another. 

That’s why I love it, it’s why I’ve dedicated my life to it, and it’s why I believe in theatre as a way to make the world a better, kinder, more empathetic place.

I am so excited to dig into this work, to keep telling and amplifying stories to continue the incredible work that this company has been doing for the last eight years. 

This wonderful, necessary company persists, fanatically determined to make change, and I am grateful for the chance to be part of that. 

Thank you to the board of directors for having me, and to all of you for joining me in the next phase of Persistence’s journey.

These are Sharon King-Campbell's speaking notes from the 2026 International Women's Day Luncheon, where her appointment as PerSIStence Theatre's new Producing Artistic Director was announced:

When Persistence Theatre first announced its existence, I wrote Jenn right away. We met up at the Ship and I told her about this piece I had been working on, that I thought might be a good fit for her new company. 

In that meeting, Jenn described a vision for an organization that wasn’t just a feminist theatre company – it was a feminism company that prioritized theatre as a strategy for making change. 

I loved it. I love it. 

Theatre is the means of making change that I am best at, but it is not the only way. 

Commissioning and unveiling the statue of Armine Gosling, for example, was an incredible effort that will stand for decades to bring forward the hard-fought victory of women’s suffrage.

That piece of mine that I pitched at the Ship, Original, was in Persistence’s second season. It dealt with stories about women, from origin myth through European history and to the moment of production. 

Stories hold the power to shape society, so it’s worth examining the stories that get told and how we tell them. 

Where are the women in these stories? What other voices have been reduced, or erased? What stories get privileged over others? That piece wove through the Women’s March on Versailles in 1789, and through the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. Women, together, shouting for change.

Back then I really felt like the world was about to end. I had no idea how it could get worse. 

That poor, sweet, summer child. 

The idea of picking an example of the work still to be done is overwhelming. Intersectional feminism requires active listening, and right now there are so many voices clamouring to be heard; those that have been excluded from the stories that have been shaping our society.

Voices that are crying out for food in a war zone, 

voices of parents who are afraid to drop their kids off at school, 

voices of victims that haven’t been believed despite thousands of pages of evidence that support their stories. 

We have a lot of voices still to uplift, so that we can help to change the shape of our society.

The thing that theatre does particularly well is that it brings people together. Physically, in a room together, just like we are together right now. 

Theatre is an opportunity to share an experience, with a personal, emotional connection. 

When everything works just right, theatre can build a moment of communion that connects each person in the room to every other person in the room, as humans, the most elemental thing we have in common and the best reason to take care of one another. 

That’s why I love it, it’s why I’ve dedicated my life to it, and it’s why I believe in theatre as a way to make the world a better, kinder, more empathetic place.

I am so excited to dig into this work, to keep telling and amplifying stories to continue the incredible work that this company has been doing for the last eight years. 

This wonderful, necessary company persists, fanatically determined to make change, and I am grateful for the chance to be part of that. 

Thank you to the board of directors for having me, and to all of you for joining me in the next phase of Persistence’s journey.