As the first woman to run the festival, Appel set out to make it more ethnically diverse and inclusive of women. She not only increased the representation of non-white actors in the company to more than a third, she raised the number of new plays in the festival's mix.
With her groundbreaking appointment as the first woman to run the festival, Appel aimed to revitalize its cultural identity and create a more equitable environment for women. She not only diversified the company's non-white actor representation to over one-third, but also enriched the festival's programming with a wider range of new plays.