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Thursday, September 30, 2021
All-white 'Into the Woods' in Bay Area canceled amid evolving norms in casting and race
Datebook: When San Jose Playhouse announced in late August its cast for a holiday production of “Into the Woods,” there was a big problem, critics on social media called out: All the actors were white.
As I read this article the phrase "hindsight is 20/20" came into mind several times. It seems that only after the public outcry did the company actually think that they might be doing something offensive. They even admitted that it came across their mind that they were casting an all white show but then decided to actively not do anything about it. When reading these types of articles, I try to keep an open mind because there's normally more sides to a story but it seems like this article really captured both sides and the producing company was definitely in the wrong. By going on social media and announcing that there was "no POC capable" to fulfill the role is absolutely absurd and shocking to hear in 2021. The company couldn't even say that the pool of people from which they were casting from (the local area), were predominately white because the truth is that they definitely weren't. Shame on San Jose Playhouse.
I think that this really shows how much antiracism needs to run through an entire theatre company, from talent to designers to leadership. San Jose playhouse seemed to be scrambling for any type of defense in the aftermath of the facebook post when, really, all they needed to do was apologize and hire artists of color to restructure their company and work with them to dismantle the racist foundations of their troupe. This is especially seen in their excuses about their use of white Ashkenazi Jewish actors from their canceled pre-covid production in their Into The Woods. Its abundantly clear that they didn’t consider the biases they were succumbing to in providing that work to white peers they feel connected to rather than hiring the abundant latine, hispanic actors in the area. What stood out to me is the idea of avoiding diversity as a selfish act, because it really is. The San Jose Playhouse was acting selfishly when they decided to nurture their community of white actors while ignoring the diverse population of their area, and it’s evident that they need to invest in more unlearning biases and diverse leadership and production staff in order to avoid that kind of selfishness again.
In a city where approximately three-fourths of the population is not white, an all-white cast is unacceptable. San Jose Playhouse’s website has a section on diversity that promises to “dismantle the inherently oppressive systems and practices in our culture, our institutional structure, our business and our work, on and off the stage.” They also casted an all-white production of Into the Woods, with Shannon Guggenheim, half of the married couple that leads San Jose Playhouse, in a now deleted public statement, claiming few qualified actors of colour auditioned and that she had been unable to find other actors of colour to join the production. These two contradictory facts show how easy it is to declare empty words and statements. A theatre company can easily declare their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but whether they act on it or not is different--that is the true tell of their values.
3 comments:
As I read this article the phrase "hindsight is 20/20" came into mind several times. It seems that only after the public outcry did the company actually think that they might be doing something offensive. They even admitted that it came across their mind that they were casting an all white show but then decided to actively not do anything about it. When reading these types of articles, I try to keep an open mind because there's normally more sides to a story but it seems like this article really captured both sides and the producing company was definitely in the wrong. By going on social media and announcing that there was "no POC capable" to fulfill the role is absolutely absurd and shocking to hear in 2021. The company couldn't even say that the pool of people from which they were casting from (the local area), were predominately white because the truth is that they definitely weren't. Shame on San Jose Playhouse.
I think that this really shows how much antiracism needs to run through an entire theatre company, from talent to designers to leadership. San Jose playhouse seemed to be scrambling for any type of defense in the aftermath of the facebook post when, really, all they needed to do was apologize and hire artists of color to restructure their company and work with them to dismantle the racist foundations of their troupe. This is especially seen in their excuses about their use of white Ashkenazi Jewish actors from their canceled pre-covid production in their Into The Woods. Its abundantly clear that they didn’t consider the biases they were succumbing to in providing that work to white peers they feel connected to rather than hiring the abundant latine, hispanic actors in the area. What stood out to me is the idea of avoiding diversity as a selfish act, because it really is. The San Jose Playhouse was acting selfishly when they decided to nurture their community of white actors while ignoring the diverse population of their area, and it’s evident that they need to invest in more unlearning biases and diverse leadership and production staff in order to avoid that kind of selfishness again.
In a city where approximately three-fourths of the population is not white, an all-white cast is unacceptable. San Jose Playhouse’s website has a section on diversity that promises to “dismantle the inherently oppressive systems and practices in our culture, our institutional structure, our business and our work, on and off the stage.” They also casted an all-white production of Into the Woods, with Shannon Guggenheim, half of the married couple that leads San Jose Playhouse, in a now deleted public statement, claiming few qualified actors of colour auditioned and that she had been unable to find other actors of colour to join the production. These two contradictory facts show how easy it is to declare empty words and statements. A theatre company can easily declare their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but whether they act on it or not is different--that is the true tell of their values.
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