{"id":444,"date":"2012-02-08T10:06:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T15:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/?p=444"},"modified":"2012-02-08T10:06:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T15:06:51","slug":"producorial-responsibility-artist-and-audience-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/2012\/02\/producorial-responsibility-artist-and-audience-diversity.html","title":{"rendered":"Producorial Responsibility: Artist and Audience Diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While artist diversity is arguably not the KEY to building audience diversity,\u00a0I think it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s highly unlikely for a producing\u00a0organization to sustain the latter without the former.\u00a0 It\u2019s the nature of the relationship, right?\u00a0 We like to see ourselves represented on stage, and meaningful or not, consciously or not, many people define their selves at least partially by what they look like, what class they represent, their physical abilities, their age.\u00a0 So why don\u2019t we see more diversity on our stages? \u00a0(And let\u2019s just focus on racial<\/strong> diversity for the purpose of this blog, just so it doesn\u2019t run to ten pages) \u00a0\u00a0After all:<\/p>\n

Racial diversity in our artists and our audiences would certainly be demographically sound.\u00a0 <\/strong>If we wanted to have truly inclusive national conversations at the level of, say, Scandinavian countries 40 years ago, who would we have to include?\u00a0 These countries had conversations that led them to collectively decide on making the necessary sacrifices to ensure cradle-to-grave security for all their citizens; to eliminate homelessness; to end the death penalty; to de-criminalize drugs and radically re-shape their criminal justice systems.\u00a0 But we have challenges to having this national conversation that these countries just didn\u2019t have then.\u00a0 Our level of diversity, in terms of race\/ethnicity alone, creates a daunting challenge to finding a common language for a national conversation.\u00a0 When Scandinavian countries decided to adopt universal health care and pay higher taxes for it that must have been a comparatively easy conversation to have, given that there were only about 25 million people who lived there, 98% of whom were of the same ethnic origin, and 97% of whom were native-born.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, current census figures tell us the American people are about 64% \u201cwhite non-Hispanic,\u201d 16% \u201cHispanic,\u201d and 13% \u201cAfrican-American,\u201d and speak approximately 311 different languages. Over 15% of Americans were born in another country (and this is low, historically; there was a time when it was closer to 50%).\u00a0 In New York City in 2011, where I work, we\u2019re 33.3% \u201cWhite\u201d (44% self-identifying as \u201cWhite, non-Hispanic\u201d), 25.5% Black, 28.6% Hispanic, and 12.7% Asian \u2013 with 36% foreign-born and 47% speaking a language other than English at home.<\/p>\n

So how do you have a totally inclusive dialogue on civic issues across all these lines of race, class, language, geography, and all the deep-seated values that these factors help instill, codify, and sometimes calcify.\u00a0 Scandinavia is utterly failing at it now that significant immigrant populations are impacting their homogeneity.\u00a0 It\u2019s daunting, certainly.\u00a0 But if we\u2019re not reaching an audience that reflects these demographics, then we\u2019re not reaching an audience that represents America.\u00a0 And then any dialogue we try to generate has little chance of reflecting or impacting a true national conversation.<\/p>\n

Artist racial diversity can and should be a creative act.\u00a0 <\/strong>I\u2019ve already talked about my belief that theatre is not a conduit for simply representing the world as it is, but a way of better defining the world on the road to changing it.\u00a0 The insidious reference back to Hamlet\u2019s \u201cmirror up to nature\u201d ignores the fact that the character who says it is notoriously indecisive – some might even say, a coward \u2013 of course he\u2019d want art that is a simulacrum, that does not challenge anyone\u2019s notions or beliefs!\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t this kind of representational semblance, this photorealism on stage, come off a little boring these days?\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to do Shakespeare or Shaw or Miller, just to name a few who we can presume mostly wrote \u201cfor\u201d white actors, take a hard look at the characters and then demand that your casting director bring in a diverse group of actors.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll be more satisfied in the end with your ability to actually match your understanding of the character with an actor. \u00a0The idea of demanding all-white productions of, say, The Crucible<\/em> because it takes place in Massachusetts in the 17th<\/sup> century is indefensibly preposterous \u2013 the play is in no way about the Salem witch trials, just as most plays are not exclusively \u201cabout\u201d the time or place in which they\u2019re set, so why seek some kind of racial photorealism?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy.\u00a0 <\/strong>Let\u2019s once and for all debunk this nonsense that producers have to cast from a limited pool \u2013 this is scarcity-think at it\u2019s worst!\u00a0 Not having any Asian-American actors in your community is no excuse for not doing plays with Asian people in them.\u00a0 Bring them in from other places!\u00a0 Yeesh!\u00a0 Most producers already<\/em> bring people they want in from other places from time to time and so have the means to house them.\u00a0 Might it require a little extra work?\u00a0 Perhaps. Does it maybe cost more?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 But this goes back to that fundamental misconception of what theatre is FOR that we have to beat down whenever it comes up \u2013 you can\u2019t define the \u201cwhy\u201d of your theatre by your economic bottom line; you can\u2019t defend your not-for-profit preferred tax status by arguing that your productions lose less money than other producers because you don\u2019t house actors of color who are not from your community.\u00a0 And in New York, this argument simply has no credence whatsoever.\u00a0 Debunked.\u00a0 There.\u00a0 Please stop saying this garbage.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201chip with the kids.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>And if it is true that your community is a bit, shall we say, white-washed, then just imagine the impact it\u2019s going to have on the young audiences we all hope for when there are actual actors of color on your stage!\u00a0 Survey after survey has found that in the Y Gen demographic, huge majorities of people around the ages of 22-38 support inter-racial marriage, want to see more executives of color in their own communities and on a national level, seek racial diversity in their colleges and workplaces.\u00a0 I mean white people.\u00a0 Put some color in your season and you\u2019re going to see a \u201cyouth-quake,\u201d because your organization will be sending a message that it\u2019s a place that WELCOMES these values rather than ignores them.\u00a0 If you want to quote Hamlet, then use the logic he loses with Gertrude: just ONE night, take ONE hard risk.\u00a0 Just ONCE, abstain from casting all-white just because it\u2019s who you already know, and then \u201cRefrain tonight \/ And that shall lead a kind of easiness\/ To the next abstinence.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, it\u2019s an easy audience building step<\/strong>, even if it\u2019s not done strategically.\u00a0 It can only have positive economic consequences.\u00a0 It can only build your audience, never reduce it.\u00a0 New faces bring in new faces, as the saying goes.\u00a0 Surely this step won\u2019t dissuade<\/em> your current audiences from coming.\u00a0 Will it?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a leader of a theatre, pose a simple scenario to your heart of hearts here.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just imagine that tomorrow, out of nowhere, your theatre is besieged by a truly diverse audience \u2013 diverse in color, and age, and education, and physical abilities, and political views (some of which you might find really unsavory) and with different needs apropos of audience services, and child care, and what they can comfortably pay.\u00a0 But they WANT to see your show.\u00a0 Would you be incredibly excited, and set immediately about trying to solve their incredibly different and difficult barriers to participation on a one-on-one basis so that you could keep them as your new core audience?\u00a0 Or would you be a little freaked out?\u00a0 Maybe even slightly embarrassed for your current core audience?\u00a0 Or so daunted by the resource re-allocation required to serve an actually diverse audience that you\u2019re scared to try?\u00a0 Answer from your heart.<\/p>\n

Because if your answer is freaked or embarrassed, I don\u2019t think you have any business being the leader of an AMERICAN theatre.\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what AMERICA is.\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 Might I suggest writing a scholarly jaunt arguing that Shakespeare was not actually named \u201cShakespeare.\u201d\u00a0 Or moving to Sweden.\u00a0 Or, Hamlet again: \u201cAssume a virtue, if you have it not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Producers and Artistic Directors who legitimately want to see change, but fear they might fit into the \u201cdaunted\u201d category: please think for a second.\u00a0 Do you have the audience YOU want, according to YOUR values?\u00a0 Why do you need to consider the ethics of your audience?\u00a0 Well, would you be OK with the idea that racists just love<\/em> your theatre?\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 In fact, I think I can comfortably say that a racist or an anti-Semite would feel pretty uncomfortable at my theatre, and I\u2019m more than good with that.<\/p>\n

For those who would say that this constitutes an overtly political stance, inappropriate for a theatre, I totally disagree.\u00a0 One of the big problems we\u2019ve had for years in this country is that the inclusionary language being promoted nationally in almost every sector, oft-lumped under the derogatory heading \u201cpolitical correctness,\u201d is considered a political stance.\u00a0 It\u2019s not \u2013 it\u2019s an ethical<\/em> stance.\u00a0 It\u2019s about re-imagining your worldview.\u00a0 About living creatively, as opposed to remaining a prisoner to the cops in your head you were raised to pledge your allegiance to.\u00a0 About how you treat other people, consciously or unconsciously.\u00a0 About how to live a more authentic and engaged existence in a country with the demographics above.<\/p>\n

Look, theatre being a public endeavor, who we are as individual organizations, and as a field, is in large part defined by who sees our work and who supports us.\u00a0 Do you want to be defined by your audience\u2019s prejudices and preconceptions?\u00a0 Or by their better selves?\u00a0 How could it possibly be a bad idea to take responsibility for challenging <\/em>the sensibilities, or the ethics, or the worldliness, of your audience? \u00a0And how could it possibly lead to anything but a more diverse, more connected, more interesting audience for your work?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While artist diversity is arguably not the KEY to building audience diversity,\u00a0I think it\u2019s fair to say it\u2019s highly unlikely for a producing\u00a0organization to sustain the latter without the former.\u00a0 It\u2019s the nature of the relationship, right?\u00a0 We like to see ourselves represented on stage, and meaningful or not, consciously or not, many people define […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-producorial-responsibilities","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/theatricalimperative\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}