Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Philly’s Protect the Artist protestors take…
Broad Street Review: If the Walnut Street Theatre (WST) hoped to quell public criticism of its hiring practices and failure to live up to its own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statement with Wednesday night’s season opener, Beehive: The 60s Musical, it failed. Let’s get one thing out of the way: this is not a proper review of Larry Gallagher’s condescending, passé 1986 revue, though some discussion of it necessarily figures in.
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This is a powerful act of protest on the opening night of Beehive: The 60s Musical in response to the poor and inequitable hiring practices of Walnut Street Theatre--practices that do not live up to the promises of their diversity, equity, and inclusion statement. Artistic director Bernard Havard has had a history of ‘barging into women’s dressing rooms after a cursory knock, colorism, tokenism, massive wage disparity, size discrimination, oppressive working conditions, and no mainstage directors of color.’ Local actor and voice artist Jenna Pinchbeck responded to a cease-and-desist letter Harvard sent to her by launching the Protect the Artist (PTA) coalition and leading public protests against WST. Protestors were largely blocked by two police cars and a band was booked as ‘counter protestors’. Worst, Beehive: The 60s Musical ‘superimposes a white man’s words onto six women, three white, three Black’, essentially exemplifying the standards of WST--cognitive dissonance between empty words and actions that have severe repercussions.
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