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Monday, March 19, 2018
Bethel Park changes stagehand policy after parent raises issue of blackened faces
TribLIVE: Stagehands at Bethel Park's high school switched from blackened faces to black ski masks after a concerned parent contacted the district, said Vicki Flotta, spokeswoman for the Bethel Park School District.
3 comments:
Alexander James Friedland
said...
I read this article because I was a little shocked to hear that stagehands had to blacken their face to work backstage. I’ve never heard of this and was intrigued to read about this issue. I was shocked to read that this is a long practiced tradition because not that I know everything or close to everything about stagehand life but I feel like this is something I should have heard about if it is so prevalent. I was talking to other DPs and none of them of this so I wonder how actually prevalent it is. This is a weird practice that hopefully will stop. I think it interesting how a school is going to the full extreme of wearing all blacks that they are wearing ski masks. I think this is an extra precaution that is unnecessary. The last surprising thing to me is that the school didn’t see the issue with the black face. This is an issue that should have been caught immediately by someone in this district.
How could people be so oblivious about something like this? I have never heard of stagehands blackening their faces before. Usually, as long as you wear long sleeves, it has been good enough. I do not even think that this would help disappear into the background that much more. I am sure they were still visible, just visible with black face on. Honestly, it is really strange to me that people could justify this, because I feel like the adults in this program all recognized that what they were having the kids do was the equivalent of black face. Anyone who has lived into adulthood would be able to recognize as much. Also, the ski masks are not necessary. Just dress them like every other stagehand in the country and leave it at that. You really have to be more careful than this today You can not just continue disregarding offensive behaviors. It is just not acceptable anymore.
It was interesting to me that the article didn’t outright criticize the district. In fact, it seemed to sway towards the district, with testimonials that put the school in a better light. Of course the kids are “not trying to offend.” It’s not about intent here, but about how it comes across. I personally don’t see how it couldn’t be seen as blackface, especially to someone out of the theatre world. Though the school claims “stage crews around the country have done that for years,” I’ve never heard of stagehands having to cover their faces for the part, much less with burnt cork. It astonishes me that no one would make the connection, because using burnt cork as a face paint was common in Minstrel shows! I’ve heard of crews wearing balaclavas, hoods, or kuroko (“black clad”) in Japanese theatre. But I personally don’t mind seeing stagehands in productions. I don’t think it ruins the performance, but just shows the immense amount of work that goes into theatre. The ending of the article felt lackluster. I hope the theatre has a bigger takeaway than “i guess we need to buy ski masks now.”
3 comments:
I read this article because I was a little shocked to hear that stagehands had to blacken their face to work backstage. I’ve never heard of this and was intrigued to read about this issue. I was shocked to read that this is a long practiced tradition because not that I know everything or close to everything about stagehand life but I feel like this is something I should have heard about if it is so prevalent. I was talking to other DPs and none of them of this so I wonder how actually prevalent it is. This is a weird practice that hopefully will stop. I think it interesting how a school is going to the full extreme of wearing all blacks that they are wearing ski masks. I think this is an extra precaution that is unnecessary. The last surprising thing to me is that the school didn’t see the issue with the black face. This is an issue that should have been caught immediately by someone in this district.
How could people be so oblivious about something like this? I have never heard of stagehands blackening their faces before. Usually, as long as you wear long sleeves, it has been good enough. I do not even think that this would help disappear into the background that much more. I am sure they were still visible, just visible with black face on. Honestly, it is really strange to me that people could justify this, because I feel like the adults in this program all recognized that what they were having the kids do was the equivalent of black face. Anyone who has lived into adulthood would be able to recognize as much. Also, the ski masks are not necessary. Just dress them like every other stagehand in the country and leave it at that. You really have to be more careful than this today You can not just continue disregarding offensive behaviors. It is just not acceptable anymore.
It was interesting to me that the article didn’t outright criticize the district. In fact, it seemed to sway towards the district, with testimonials that put the school in a better light. Of course the kids are “not trying to offend.” It’s not about intent here, but about how it comes across. I personally don’t see how it couldn’t be seen as blackface, especially to someone out of the theatre world. Though the school claims “stage crews around the country have done that for years,” I’ve never heard of stagehands having to cover their faces for the part, much less with burnt cork. It astonishes me that no one would make the connection, because using burnt cork as a face paint was common in Minstrel shows!
I’ve heard of crews wearing balaclavas, hoods, or kuroko (“black clad”) in Japanese theatre.
But I personally don’t mind seeing stagehands in productions. I don’t think it ruins the performance, but just shows the immense amount of work that goes into theatre.
The ending of the article felt lackluster. I hope the theatre has a bigger takeaway than “i guess we need to buy ski masks now.”
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