The San Diego Union-Tribune: In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet,” the young Danish prince instructs a troupe of actors that the purpose of their work is: “to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature” to honestly reflect the world around them.
Four centuries later, American theaters are now being asked to take a closer look in that mirror. For far too long, many say, U.S. theaters’ leadership, performers, the plays they produce and the audiences they serve have remained predominantly White, even though 40 percent of the U.S. population is not.
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In addition to being interested in the development of implementing anti-racist guidelines and protocols in theater, what drew me to this particular article was the focus on San Diego’s theater sphere as a reference point. I have worked with the Old Globe before as well as watching several of their past shows. It sounds generally positive, and it is looking like things are changing for the better which is good. In fact, during some of my time with them, I was able to hear speak both Freedome Bradley-Ballentine and Barry Edelstein on different occasions. I remember still Freedome’s talk; he spoke about his journey as an artist, and the struggles he had to work against to get to where he was when giving the talk (about two years ago at this point). He talked of how racism played a role in it all, about how hard it was to find resources that would let him learn how to navigate the ropes of theater in general and then the specifics of regional which is where he is now.
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