Broadway News: Theatrical union leaders put forward a legislative agenda Thursday aimed at increasing diversity, equity and inclusion within the arts industry.
In a joint press conference with affiliated members of the Department for Professional Employees, the unions highlighted priorities including strengthening collective bargaining and copyright laws, increasing federal arts funding to help diversify talent pipelines and awarding federal tax incentives to productions or entities that participate in diverse hiring.
5 comments:
I’m very passionate about diversifying the theatre industry. It’s hopeful to see that there seem to be active and solid legislative changes being made in order to protect artists of color in the theatre industry. I feel like many people focus solely on diversity within the performance or writing sides of live theatre. Those that are behind the scenes, from directors to designers to stagehands, are often not thought of as much when it comes to diversity. For example, Disney’s recent live-action Mulan had a cast of people of color, however, the entire production crew was of white people. It’s important that people of color get as much representation when it comes to directing, choreographing, and designing as they do with the people on the stage. When a theatre advertises a cast as being diverse but still has a white production crew, it almost feels like there’s this belief that if the audience can’t see it, it’s not true.
It is very refreshing to see these unions pushing for diversity and equity in theatre. Racism, sexism, and so much more has been a constant issue that the United States has faced for its whole history, and still to this day. Theatre, as liberal and industry as it is, is also guilty of this. Theatre in America tends to be very white washed, whether it be casts, crew, design teams, or even the audience. We See You White American Theatre, among countless others have called for change in the industry, making it more accessible and diverse for everyone. The fact that theatrical unions are pushing this agenda is amazing, and hopefully means that change will be coming. The article also mentions that they unions are also pushing to reform copyright laws to benefit online content creators. This is also an important point. Many content creators who make their living off of creating content struggle because of unjust payouts on the content they broadcast, and a close reform of the DMCA could majorly benefit these people. The DMCA was originally published in 1998, and as far as I know, has not been amended since, despite how much content creation has changed since then.
This is really important work and I’m really glad that the theater unions are taking this time when we have to close our doors to work on themselves and make them more diverse. When theater returns, it’s going to be up to everybody to see what kind of theater industry we want to be. I think a lot of the action items and legislation listed in the article are important steps. I am concerned about how much of the focus was on union legislation. While unions are incredibly important and can do a lot of good work towards increasing diversity and equity, they can be also be guilty of some pretty racist biases. So while we strengthen our unions, it’s important to look within them to ensure that they are walking the walk, not just talking the talk. I was also confused the copyright part. Considering the article this week that was somewhat anti-copyright, I don’t know what copyright has to do with diversity. Typically, copyright law only ever benefits those who can afford to pursue lawsuits.
I love seeing parts of the industry use this time to change what we know about theatre and truly make it a welcoming space for all. I think this is the perfect time to incite change as there can't be any productions right now, and there can't be any sort of "prep" for productions as we have absolutely no clue when we can return to live theatre. Theatre and specifically Broadway has always promoted themselves as a space that is inclusive and welcoming to all, which is what draws many kids into high school theatre itself. I am happy that there are steps being taken to actually meet that expectation especially with the crown act, something that protects specifically women poc within the industry. I do hope to see change being brought to the backstage side of things as well as many of these acts are to protect poc on stage and bring around diversity that way. I think thats a great start but in my opinion having a white director for a show meant for poc is just as problematic as casting the lead as white. The copyright act may be a start for backstage protections however I think that act is more geared to protect creators in general. I am happy to see the industry move in a positive direction and hopefully more change can be brought around before we open up for live productions again.
It is great to see efforts toward inclusion backed by actual substantial policies and action. In an industry that is in some ways so reluctant to grow, it is impressive to see. Although it is encouraging to see work like this done, I do not believe these unions or organizations deserve a pat on the back necessarily for doing the right thing. Of course, they should be encouraged to move forward, as it would be disappointing at least and devastating at most to see this momentum falter, but at the end of the day they are only righting wrongs that should have never been there in the first place. It feels wrong to overly praise the industry for finally acknowledging the voices it has ignored all along. I believe this more critical attitude is the one that should be maintained with a lot of acts in the name of social justice, because in a perfect world, none of these efforts would be required.
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