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Friday, April 13, 2018
CMU School of Drama's 2018-2019 Season Features Diverse Perspectives
www.cmu.edu/news: Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama's 2018-2019 season features a diverse selection of plays from women and playwrights of color, including the school's first commissioned piece, "The Way Out West," by alumna Liza Birkenmeier.
6 comments:
Sydney Asselin
said...
I really wish that the diversity in students that make up the School of Drama more closely matched the diversity of perspectives next season. When I look at the student body of Purnell and the student body of the university, I see way more differences than similarities. I can count on my fingers the number of people of color in the freshman DP class. There are twenty-five of us. There shouldn't be so little. This year in particular, I get the feeling that the call for POC friendly education is coming to a head. The season for next year is a step in the right direction, but I feel like the school needs to make more of an active effort to diversify students in every option. I'm glad that we continue to increase the diversity of the stories we tell, but we also need diverse people to tell those stories.
I am happy to see a marked difference between the upcoming season and the current one. I am glad to see that students' voices are being heard and an effort is being made to include more people and more stories in Purnell. I do think that there is still work to be done, and the more people talk about thee issues and push for change the faster it will happen. I hope that people continue to have these types of conversations, both in and out of Purnell, and that the theatre industry as a whole makes strides towards better diversity and inclusion standards. I also think that it is important for student conversations, concerns, and feelings should be heard by faculty and higher-up influences in the School of Drama and seriously considered as we progress through this season and into the next, which I hope will make even more of an effort to include diverse playwrights and their stories.
I agree with both Ali and Sydney that in the School of Drama and in the university overall we need do better with diversity. And to Sydney’s point it's hard to tell diverse stories without diverse people. It all starts with the pool of people that the school can pull from. This year overall felt like a step back in the the productions that were chosen. However at the same time one the things that made this year feel like a step back was the way some productions were handled and cast. I think next year seems like a step in the right direction. The student body has been vocal about their concerns, I think the faculty are hearing and responding to what the students want. Even when there are concerning or triggering issues in a show, we can make sure that we handle those issue correctly. Each production will bring its own challenges, and I am excited to see what next year brings.
I am truly looking forward to next year’s season of shows. I have to say that I was quite surprised at the season this year. It didn’t seem nearly as diverse as I was expecting when I first got here. In fact, this season almost highlighted the diversity issues that are still present in our school. However I think that we are recovering strong with such a wonderful diversity of shows next year. I’m glad that the faculty has not shied away often when it comes to talk about diversity, and that they have acknowledged the fact that certain things are not right. I hope that next year we can continue to learn and that each progressing year continues to be more and more diverse until it is no longer an issue. Through the art that we make, we show the world how we feel, and I am glad to see that the next season reflects that more appropriately.
I’m glad to see that the voices of the students are being heard. This being my first year at CMU it was kind of disheartening to see a lack of diversity in the shows in the school season because I had nothing to compare this season to so I thought this type of season was the norm. But, then to hear the outcry of the students calling for diversity was amazing. I remember that moment in “Pato, Pato, Maricon” during Playground where they made a reference to the lack of representation of people of color and women in the playwrights of the CMU 2017-2018 season and the entire audience clapped for what felt like forever. I think it was in that moment where I felt just how committed the student body is to diversity not just on stage but backstage and behind the page as well. Which feels really good as a future designer because it feels like sometime equal representation off screen is forgotten about. What makes me happy and hopeful about the upcoming season is that the students’ wishes were hears and responded to by the School of Drama administration.
I'm ecstatic to see that the school of drama is opening its eyes to both our student body and aligning it to the theatrical practices of the rest of the world. Detroit 67 is definitely a step in the right direction terms of portraying diverse and rich voices on the Chosky stage. I agree with Sydney when she says that the school of drama should be aligning their student body more closely with the values of diversity and inclusion that we all cherish so proudly. I am a firm believer in the notion that if you bring in more perspective and more voices of all different kinds into a design meeting or a devision meeting, the scope of the show has the ability to reach tons more audiences then it would have ever reached before. It's usually in the smaller micro aggressions that a show either fails or succeeds in terms of political correctness. I think we are headed in the right direction, but in order to continue progress, this conversation has to happen several times a year.
6 comments:
I really wish that the diversity in students that make up the School of Drama more closely matched the diversity of perspectives next season. When I look at the student body of Purnell and the student body of the university, I see way more differences than similarities. I can count on my fingers the number of people of color in the freshman DP class. There are twenty-five of us. There shouldn't be so little. This year in particular, I get the feeling that the call for POC friendly education is coming to a head. The season for next year is a step in the right direction, but I feel like the school needs to make more of an active effort to diversify students in every option. I'm glad that we continue to increase the diversity of the stories we tell, but we also need diverse people to tell those stories.
I am happy to see a marked difference between the upcoming season and the current one. I am glad to see that students' voices are being heard and an effort is being made to include more people and more stories in Purnell. I do think that there is still work to be done, and the more people talk about thee issues and push for change the faster it will happen. I hope that people continue to have these types of conversations, both in and out of Purnell, and that the theatre industry as a whole makes strides towards better diversity and inclusion standards. I also think that it is important for student conversations, concerns, and feelings should be heard by faculty and higher-up influences in the School of Drama and seriously considered as we progress through this season and into the next, which I hope will make even more of an effort to include diverse playwrights and their stories.
I agree with both Ali and Sydney that in the School of Drama and in the university overall we need do better with diversity. And to Sydney’s point it's hard to tell diverse stories without diverse people. It all starts with the pool of people that the school can pull from. This year overall felt like a step back in the the productions that were chosen. However at the same time one the things that made this year feel like a step back was the way some productions were handled and cast. I think next year seems like a step in the right direction. The student body has been vocal about their concerns, I think the faculty are hearing and responding to what the students want. Even when there are concerning or triggering issues in a show, we can make sure that we handle those issue correctly. Each production will bring its own challenges, and I am excited to see what next year brings.
I am truly looking forward to next year’s season of shows. I have to say that I was quite surprised at the season this year. It didn’t seem nearly as diverse as I was expecting when I first got here. In fact, this season almost highlighted the diversity issues that are still present in our school. However I think that we are recovering strong with such a wonderful diversity of shows next year. I’m glad that the faculty has not shied away often when it comes to talk about diversity, and that they have acknowledged the fact that certain things are not right. I hope that next year we can continue to learn and that each progressing year continues to be more and more diverse until it is no longer an issue. Through the art that we make, we show the world how we feel, and I am glad to see that the next season reflects that more appropriately.
I’m glad to see that the voices of the students are being heard. This being my first year at CMU it was kind of disheartening to see a lack of diversity in the shows in the school season because I had nothing to compare this season to so I thought this type of season was the norm. But, then to hear the outcry of the students calling for diversity was amazing. I remember that moment in “Pato, Pato, Maricon” during Playground where they made a reference to the lack of representation of people of color and women in the playwrights of the CMU 2017-2018 season and the entire audience clapped for what felt like forever. I think it was in that moment where I felt just how committed the student body is to diversity not just on stage but backstage and behind the page as well. Which feels really good as a future designer because it feels like sometime equal representation off screen is forgotten about. What makes me happy and hopeful about the upcoming season is that the students’ wishes were hears and responded to by the School of Drama administration.
I'm ecstatic to see that the school of drama is opening its eyes to both our student body and aligning it to the theatrical practices of the rest of the world. Detroit 67 is definitely a step in the right direction terms of portraying diverse and rich voices on the Chosky stage. I agree with Sydney when she says that the school of drama should be aligning their student body more closely with the values of diversity and inclusion that we all cherish so proudly. I am a firm believer in the notion that if you bring in more perspective and more voices of all different kinds into a design meeting or a devision meeting, the scope of the show has the ability to reach tons more audiences then it would have ever reached before. It's usually in the smaller micro aggressions that a show either fails or succeeds in terms of political correctness. I think we are headed in the right direction, but in order to continue progress, this conversation has to happen several times a year.
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