As we have seen the ebb and flow of COVID, companies throughout southern Maine are starting to open their doors once again and welcome back masked and vaccinated patrons to participate in one of the most important parts of a developed society: seeing live theater. But it seems that in the urgency to return and make up any lost capital, there is a key component many companies are forgetting: the promises they made when the doors were closed and the call for action was sent.
When the world reacted to the atrocities of the murder of George Floyd, a call was sounded for all artistic venues to stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the demand for change at every level of our institutions to address the inequities that too long have been upheld by the status quo. Almost every theater in our area made this commitment, proudly and without hesitation, but now as the lights are returning to the stage, these commitments have proven to be false promises made only to save face.
Many of the theaters have returned with seasons that not only are filled with problematic themes and titles but also have casts who are significantly lacking in diversity of any sort. And it is worth stating that casting people from the non-heterosexual community is not diversity for theater. Gay, lesbian and bisexual people have been in theater since the theater began. Who we aren’t seeing featured on these stages are people of color, people of different physical abilities and/or people of trans identity.
I understand that for many of these institutions, earning back revenue is a key focus after being shuttered for two years. But why should the promises made when it was easy to do so be put on the back burner now that the audiences are returning? In choosing to prioritize profit over these promises, it merely reveals the true guiding principles of these organizations, and their willingness to yet again sacrifice true equity and justice in favor of the dollar.
Many companies will argue (and have done so loudly) that Black and Indigenous people and people of color, as well as people of different physical abilities, just don’t show up to auditions. That is not an excuse and is indicative of the larger problem. What have these companies done to bring new bodies into their spaces? Have they made connections to different groups and communities to truly welcome them? If your auditions look the same as they did pre-pandemic, I’m of the mind that you have, in fact, made no significant change. There are diverse and beautiful populations in our area that are being underrepresented and utilized because of a lack of effort by many theater companies.
In fairness, this is not a blanket statement. Some companies have made significant improvements to their social justice efforts. But in order to be truly impartial, I’m not going to list these out, either good or bad. Instead, I ask the audiences of these theaters to do the only thing that has ever really worked when making a commitment to institutional change: Hit them in the wallet. Look at the theaters you support in this area, do research and ask yourself: Have they done anything to change the makeup of their stages? Are new voices being represented at all? I would suggest finding those that have made changes and investing capital there, rather than upholding the outdated and problematic decisions being maintained by many.
Artistic organizations in our area are especially beholden to the desires of their audiences when it comes to programming. Stop supporting any organization that is continuing to fail to support representation for Black, Indigenous and people of color and clinging to tokenization, excuses and, ultimately, lack of effort. Maybe when audiences stop showing up, we will start to see real change.
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