CMU School of Drama


Monday, November 16, 2020

How Black Lives Matter Inspired a Grassroots Push for Diversity in Australian Theater

www.backstage.com: The “We See You, White American Theatre” campaign may be striving to create a less racist American theater, but its impact has been felt worldwide. In Australia, a group of actors have created a similar campaign called “I Stand with the Quarter” to advocate for more diversity in the Australian theater industry. They were also inspired by Black Lives Matter.

1 comment:

Ella R said...

I am so happy to read about how We See You, White American Theater has changed people’s approach to theatrical practice, not only in America, but worldwide. That’s mind boggling. And it seems as though Australia is doing more of the world to deconstruct their racist foundation then a lot of American theaters are doing. The fact that Australia had an incredible musical theater scholarship and that all thirty finalists were white when that is not representative of the demographics that exist in their country is insane. Tokenism is still a huge problem worldwide and this article talks about that briefly. The fact that we’re still putting POC in supporting roles rather than celebrating them and making them the central focus on productions is ridiculous and is outdated. Get with the program. Being able to celebrate First Nation, Indigenous performance is so much more than just celebrating, it’s representation! I also love that this article says the pandemic has been a blessing because now people are really talking about racism in theater because it can’t be swept under the rug when there isn’t any work.