medium.com: We, the cast of Exit 63 Theatre’s production of Horse Girls, are pained to announce that our run has been cancelled due to the abuse, manipulation, and mismanagement we experienced at the hands of Exit 63 Theatre, primarily its Artistic Director Connor Baty.
3 comments:
Oh wow. First of all, a huge bravo for these ladies coming forward and ensuring that their stories are heard. This article reads like a case in court, and unfortunately, this is accurate and the only way they feel anyone will listen to their grievances. I also find it interesting that it reads this way because women are often seen as too "emotional" when we defend ourselves or are recounting stories of injustice against ourselves. The layout of this as a cold retelling of the facts, as the use of bullet points clearly hammers in, is a brilliant and succinct way to use the system against itself. You want us to be unemotional and direct about this? Fine. Here it is. Secondly, although the artistic and managerial members of this company are problematic to say the least, I was immensely happy to hear that Stage Management, Artistic Team Members, and Production Staff all stood up against this injustice and unanimously decided that this behavior was not who they are and not how they would work. It doesn't matter if the show has been cancelled and the team disbanded, this story has most definitely been told.
Really disappointed that a cast had to face this abuse. Some of the worst things that could happen to the cast happened. Agreeing with Ally above, I also noticed the neutral tone in this post. More often than not, women have to adapt this tone because when they are invalidated when they voice out their grievances. Women are invalidated with being too “emotional” and “defensive”. That’s why instead of telling the story of what happened in the article, laying down the hard facts was more effective. I feel like similar types of cases happen in the theatre industry, with smaller productions maybe, but we don’t hear about them often. All in all, thank you for all the people who stood up for this cast and the cast themselves for publicizing this issue. We really must not tolerate racist and sexist behavior, microaggression, and those who abuse their power. Just anything that a decent human being wouldn’t do.
When I first clicked on this article, I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting. Reading this letter made my heart hurt for this cast of Exit 63 Theatre’s production of Horse Girls. The fact that these actors experienced this horrible mistreatment and harassment, even when they spoke with their Stage Manager, even when the theatre company itself attempted to alter the situation to mediate the Artistic Director’s abuse - it’s horrendous. I am shocked and appalled. However, the fact that this cast banded together and stood up for what they believe in and what is right makes me happy? It feels like a small victory. People in theatre companies that experience this form of abuse from higher ups may not be doing what this cast of Horse Girls have done. This might show other people that they have a voice and a right to be treated properly. This cast did the right thing and thank god this theatrical company is now gone. Good riddens.
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