FOLDA

Over 300 BIPOC American theatre-makers have cosigned an open letter titled "We See You, White American Theater". It is a must-read: https://www.weseeyouwat.com/... "This is a response to the Civic Unrest in our country. We all recognize that while our country is full of protests against racial injustice, we must also protest it in our own field. We are demanding a more equitable and safe space for all BIPOC communities in our nation and inside of the American Theatre." We absolutely need to address this from a Canadian perspective as well, but to support our American friends, check out the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/white-american-theater-demand-chan See more

One of the interesting things about #inthedressingroom on Twitter right now is it makes me think a lot about what we will individually sacrifice for Equality. ... When companies actively worked harder to increase diversity in 2010s there was either: at worst a) genuine, vocal, bitter and racist backlash from performers and theatre makers who "lost" a job to a POC artist at best b) a lack of empathy when discussing these systemic changes and why necessary. It felt to me the perception was that EVERY POC actor who got a job ONLY got it because of the colour of their skin. As if it was impossible they may have just been GOOD at what they did and they were finally having access to the stage after GENERATIONS of exclusion. I saw the same thing when more women were being brought in to direct television in Canada (it must be noted at first it was mainly white women) and there was the same reaction from men who had built careers, houses, cottages, families where women were not even invited to SHADOW them. I've been doing this for professionally for 24 years in Canada and I've seen an awful lot during this time. Most of these efforts to be more equal are met with a nod "that it would be a good thing to do" but then GREAT frustration that it has cost anyone in a position of privilege ANYTHING. After seeing a production at one of our Festivals in the last few years where the Black characters were virtually silent in a play about racism, I decided it was time to retire my show Life, Death and The Blues. Despite it being about Black Culture/Music/ Appropriation/Opression and featuring a fantastic Divine Brown (a tour de force Black actor), I realized that the time had come for the limited resources of Canadian Theatre not to be spent on a beige guy (me) talking about blackness. It wasn't that what I did was "wrong" or I felt guilty it was that it was now time for the limited resources to go to ACTUAL black people. Ideally there would be so much interest and money out there that it wouldn't feel like it was a choice of one or the other, that there were so many POC points of view we could sustain it but there are not, even less now and the time had come. I don't want a medal for that. It was a clear realization that I had privilege and support and I had managed in my own way to bring the conversation a little further along but it was time to pass the baton. It served it's purposed from 2014-16, played for 10,000 patrons in 6 different Canadian cities. I'm proud of all that and all the people who helped make it but, in that form it was over. Show biz is hard. But if you think that you got your career with out privilege, knowing the right people, going to the right school and looking the right way then you are being naive and we are not helping. I'm wondering, MYSELF included, what are we willing to sacrifice for EQUALITY. I'm hoping this time we are in now, where so much has been taken from us, out of our control, it can allow us to re calibrate what it all means to "have" work or not. Good luck and thanks again to all those who are speaking out and listening. We (I) Must Do Better.

Colleagues in Kingston are also going digital. Call for proposals below.