Coffee Machine

The forum

When faced with everyday sexism in academic or professional settings, what can be done? Coffee Machine delves into the daily life of Emma, a talented PhD student, who is confronted with the sexist behaviour of her supervisor, Professor Smith. Although just as competent as her colleague Ben, Emma is constantly sidelined. Ben witnesses the situation alongside Alice, the faculty administrator: how will they respond?

Based on studies of sexist discrimination in the academic world, this forum aims to reveal sexist biases – even those that are ‘well-intentioned’ – and to collaboratively develop and test practical tools for taking action in the workplace. Since its creation, it has been performed in universities, schools, theatres, community centres and international organisations, confirming the universal relevance of the issues addressed.

Photos

Participant Feedback

"A truly outstanding piece of work! I had the opportunity to collaborate with Specta(c)tor during the 'Prejudice, Discrimination, and the Diversity Challenge' summer school at the University of Geneva. The troupe demonstrated great professionalism throughout our collaboration and an excellent ability to adapt my academic research on sexism into an interactive play. The entire audience was impressed by this innovative performance, which facilitated discussion and helped identify relevant and realistic tools to tackle sexism."

Dr. Klea Faniko

Social Psychology Unit at the University of Geneva

"Time flew by so quickly… We’d love to hit ‘cut’ every two seconds and redo everything. Never mind, the questions have been asked by your amazing team. Now it’s up to us to answer them!! Well done and thank you."

Participant, Open rehearsals

"A highly engaging and creative interactive play, in which audience members discover both the benefits of taking action and the pervasive resistance encountered in the fight against gender-based harassment in the workplace."

Louise Carvalho

CERN D&I Programme Leader

"I was amazed by the Specta(c)tor troupe’s ability to foster collective learning and engagement with patterns of everyday sexism. It’s a fantastic tool for starting the conversation within your organisation or community and for providing participants with the tools to actively fight sexist behaviour."

Hannah Reinl

Senior Project Officer, Intenational Gender Champions