In ‘Suffs,’ a Theatrical Reminder That the Fight for Equality Is Eternal

KQED: In its two hours and 30 minutes, Suffs delivers more than a retelling of the American suffrage movement. Sure, its content might help a student check off a bullet point on a history class syllabus.

March On Broadway Organizers Call For Action From Producer Scott Rudin

Deadline: The organizers of this week’s March on Broadway: Broadway Fights Back event protesting racism and inequality in the theater industry have released a list of six demands, including calls for action involving stage and film producer Scott Rudin, Actors’ Equity Association and the Broadway League.

Actor-Activists Plan ‘March on Broadway’ to Demand Equity Transparency, Rudin Removal or Restorations

Playbill: In the wake of reported abuse allegations against Scott Rudin and the producer’s subsequent announcement that he’d “step back” from his shows, an April 22 “March on Broadway” will rally for proper accountability and safe work environments moving forward in the theatre industry. The event (originally scheduled April 21 but changed due to weather forecasts), is organized by Nattalyee Randall and Courtney Daniels and demands action not just from the Broadway League and Rudin himself but also Actors’ Equity Association, calling for transparency on the union’s part on active steps to ensure equity for BIPOC artists and other underrepresented communities.

As theater reopens, a need for healing

Chicago Tribune: Testing. Masks. Vaccination passports. Capacity restrictions. Social distancing. Union rules. CDC recommendations. As Chicago’s theaters and venues prepare to reopen — a few this summer, en masse come the fall — those important COVID-19 considerations are sucking up most of the energy. And for good reason. Artists need to get back to work. People deserve to feel safe.

Design with an Equity Lens

Technicians for Change: We have before us an opportunity for drastic and sustainable change. The pandemic and calls for racial justice have ignited fieldwide revolution and hopefully serious reformation. Theatremakers are being presented with a chance to reimagine the way our art form is made, both within and without the systems that are supposed to support the people and the work.

BWW Interview: Clint Ramos Talks SLAVE PLAY's Set Design, THE ROSE TATTOO's Costume Design, Racial Equity in Theatre & More

www.broadwayworld.com: In 2016 Clint Ramos became the first person of color to win a Tony Award for Outstanding Costume Design of a Play for his work in Eclipsed. Ramos' extraordinary talents as a designer have earned him two Tony nominations this season, for Best Scenic Design of a Play for Slave Play and Best Costume Design of a Play for The Rose Tattoo.

AI identifies social bias trends in Bollywood, Hollywood movies

EurekAlert! Science News: Babies whose births were depicted in Bollywood films from the 1950s and 60s were more often than not boys; in today's films, boy and girl newborns are about evenly split. In the 50s and 60s, dowries were socially acceptable; today, not so much. And Bollywood's conception of beauty has remained consistent through the years: beautiful women have fair skin.

Acting with Autism

Bitter Gertrude: I invited actor and playwright Cameron McNary to write a guest blog about being a theatremaker who’s on the Autism Spectrum. I wish I had read this piece 20 years ago. Every theatremaker should read this piece! I learned so much I wish I could apply retroactively to my work.

CFDA & PVH Release The State of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Fashion Study & Report

News | CFDA: Today marks the beginning of Black History Month. It is an extremely important time of the year, and the tragic and senseless acts of racial injustice in 2020 – including every life lost at the hands of racism in the United States and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color – crystallized this.

‘Sexism in Post’ Revisited: Six Years Later, Has Anything Changed?

Creative COW: Those eyerolls came in dozens of comments on the article – most from men – many of which sought to tell me I had it wrong or I was being dramatic. (This led me to turning off commenting on all my posts. Not because they bothered me, but because I felt they didn’t deserve to have their nonsensical words immortalized next to thoughtful analysis for young women to see and internalize.)

You Say You Want a Revolution

AMERICAN THEATRE: The more I think about the incredible devastation this pandemic has wrought on our world and on our industry, the more I feel called to contribute to the conversation about using this leveling blow to rebuild how theatres work and how we treat our actors. As a theatre administrator, it feels like my Jerry Maguire moment (without the morning-after regret) to lay out the harsh realities of the structure we have created and the hopeful possibilities of where we could go if we stop talking and start walking.

Tonya Williams, former ‘Y&R’ star, launches Access Reelworld to help racially diverse Canadians

Globalnews.ca: Tonya Williams, perhaps best-known as fan-favourite Olivia Barber Winters on soap opera The Young and the Restless, has also been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, especially for young Black Canadians and Canadians of colour interested in working in the entertainment industry. Williams, 62, has launched Access Reelworld, Canada’s largest national database dedicated to helping racially diverse professionals get hired.

"Twelve Angry Men"; 1950's Courtroom Drama about Confronting Prejudice Still Rings True

The Theatre Times: Back in January, when English director Lindsay Posner visited Tokyo for preparatory meetings to stage the iconic courtroom drama Twelve Angry Men at Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Shibuya Ward, he was expecting to return in a few months to a city abuzz with excitement over the Summer Olympics. Instead, the pandemic has put both the Games and international travel on hold — resulting in Posner having to log into Zoom in the early hours of his day to conduct rehearsals from his home in London with an all-Japanese cast eight hours ahead and more than 9,500 kilometers away.

Hold, Please

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Regardless of your age, race, or political leanings, if you live in a culture touched by colonialism, it is inevitable that racist ideals have crept into your work—theatrical work included. As such, anyone in the field—including the seven of us working as stage managers across the United States—must actively dismantle these aspects of our beliefs and practices. For stage managers in particular—whether acting as a production stage manager, assistant, or intern—we must be mindful of the ways we facilitate our rehearsal and performance processes.

Severe Lack of Diversity in UK Senior TV Leadership Jobs, Survey Finds

Variety: Even as the U.K. celebrates Black History Month, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people are seriously underrepresented in senior TV leadership jobs, a survey conducted by the Creative Diversity Network (CDN) has found.

The Stage Managers’ Association Creates the Council for Equity and Advocacy

Stage Directions: Formerly the EDI Committee, the Council for Equity and Advocacy (CEA) has been created by the Stage Managers’ Association of the United States (SMA). The CEA is led by chair Kat Meister and includes members who are SMA Members as well as industry professionals from outside the organization. The Council advocates for the ideals of equity and champions all stage managers in their efforts to build an equitable industry.

Colleges cancel diversity programs in response to Trump order

www.insidehighered.com: Two campuses are halting diversity efforts in relation to the White House’s recent executive order against “divisive concepts” in federally funded programs.

In a campus memo, the University of Iowa’s interim associate vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Liz Tovar, said, “Let us state unequivocally that diversity, equity and inclusion remain as core values within our institution.”

I have never been comfortable in theater, by Artemis Montague

DC Metro Theater Arts: I have never been comfortable in theater. Not safe. Not “safer.” Just completely unwelcomed.

We are in a global pandemic. There is movement building on the ground and online that no one in the United States has seen before. This is an unprecedented moment in our history.

Theater, just like the rest of society, will never be able to go back to “normal,” even if there is never another case of COVID-19. There is no going back to something that was built on inequity, inaccessibility, and injustice.

Everything I Need To Know About Sound Design, I Learned From Ruth Bader Ginsburg

SoundGirls.org: Ok, maybe not EVERYTHING, but what I mean to say is that I can (and do) apply RBG’s wisdom anywhere. We lost a champion of the people, a defender of equality, and a warrior among women when we lost Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and it’s up to us to make sure that her legacy is carried out for ages to come. It sounds lofty, I know.

Why is the Theater Canon Filled with Men? These Women Want to Change That

Token Theatre Friends: “Why have we only been producing dead white men?” That was the question that Mary Candler asked herself one day. Candler runs Hedgepig Ensemble Theatre, a Brooklyn-based company that specializes in classic plays and hiring women and non-binary individuals to star in and direct them. But there was a slight snag in their mission statement: the classical canon is white, male dominated.