We are in a global pandemic. There is movement building on the ground and online that no one in the United States has seen before. This is an unprecedented moment in our history.
Theater, just like the rest of society, will never be able to go back to “normal,” even if there is never another case of COVID-19. There is no going back to something that was built on inequity, inaccessibility, and injustice.
4 comments:
When I came away from this article the thought that theaters have to make these changes in order to survive kept sticking with me. Clearly, theatrical organizations have been told before that they need to make safer spaces - that doesn’t mean just having appropriate shows, but hiring resources and providing resources. Artemis’ story is discouraging to hear, but not unique and one I am not all that unfamiliar with. Theater’s rarely make the effort for their own education, and if they do they put it on those who are calling out the injustices to do that education. If you aren’t paying them - you can’t expect them to do a completely other job. If you want to show that you are actually dedicated to making changes, put your money where your mouth is. It will be interesting to see how - in the months to come - theatrical organizations make genuine changes. People are not going to just let performativity slide, and during this time we are shut down we should be working actively to make sure that our spaces are safe (and not just a base level safe.
This was a really hard article to read, because it sheds light on the really difficult truth of how bad the theatre system is. The fact that this BIPOC playwright/director has had experiences at theatre companies where they were not respected is really sad. I also very much agree with this guest author. They have focused on the exact issue and actions that theatre companies have committed, time and time again. “Professional Fetishization” is so real and I appreciate how this person was able to articulate how theatres commit that. What I am taking away from this is how important it is for theatre makers to create extremely safe and accountable spaces, and to be willing to always make sure that each person’s well being matters. We need to shift how we do theatre in the day to day to make sure that everyone feels welcome, because often we care more about the product then the people and that’s just not how we should exist in this world.
I respect Montague’s feelings on how she and many other people of color and nongender conforming identities feel uncomfortable in the theatre. Theatre has inherently always been run by white men and although this is now changing, it is creating an uncomfortable dynamic between the older white men and everyone else. Although I do not have all the solutions to the problems we are facing, I think we are making a step in the right direction at Carnegie Mellon University by creating our Anti-Racist Theatre course. Although it may not address issues of gender identity, it is a small step within a larger idea of total equality. I also liked Montague’s saying on accountability. I agree that nothing will be perfect. Nothing in theatre or even the world. But if we hold each other accountable for our imperfections we are enabling justice to take place in our society.
I resonate so heavily with this article. Like Ella pointed out, “Professional Fetishization” is very real and something almost every theatre I’ve been a part of does. This ties into a conversation we were having in the latest DE&I meeting about black drama students being the only group to have no responses about space spaces. This article is very telling of why that is. Theatre has not been a comfort for a very long time so when that uncomfortability proves you with a “safe space”, you don’t trust it. It’s hard to just all of a sudden “make theatre comfortable” for BIPOC. It starts at the absolute top of the rich white ass men and women that uphold the way theatre is now. The changes theatres make now to who they accept funding from, who they hire, and the practices to put in place so BIPOC theatre artists can fall in love with theatre again.
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