The stage is theirs

Back in 1975, launching on a career trajectory that would see her become one of the most important Boston stage performers of her generation, Paula Plum landed her first professional acting job in “Dial M for Murder,” at Lyric Stage Company.

At the helm of the production was Polly Hogan, who was also Lyric Stage’s cofounder and co-artistic director. As the decades went by and the number of theaters in Greater Boston expanded, however, female artistic directors remained decidedly in the minority, particularly at the region’s most prominent and influential theaters.

When it came time to fill a leadership position, search committees and boards of directors tended to reflexively Dial M for Male.