Race, Racism and Theater
I have to admit that I've been pleasantly surprised to see two local theaters putting on plays about race and racism. One was at Trinity Rep, which was a collection of one minute plays called Every 28 Hours although unfortunately only for one night (sheesh, is that all we get?)
What wasn't a surprise were the abundant negative comments about the plays, and that about ten or so subscribers canceled their membership at the theater. The artistic director of Trinity Rep wrote an editorial to respond to the trollers and detractors.
Another beloved theater institution, the Gamm, is tackling race and racism with the play The Rant, which, thankfully, is being performed for a month. I haven't read the comments but I'm sure they won't be much different than they were for Every 28 Hours.
Despite all the negativity from some sectors in the community, I'm grateful that these two major playhouses are willing to address these important topics through the power of theater. However, I'll be much more impressed when they increase the number of actors of color as resident actors, increase the number of people of color as resident artists (e.g. directors), and increase the number of board members of color.
Knowing that race and racism (all the other -isms) are systemic, it'll take more than performing one night (or several nights) of a play about race and racism. It's also about having actors of color performing in roles that have been traditionally relegated to White actors. It's also performing plays written by playwrights of color that don't necessarily address race directly but instead address the enduring themes of family, lovers, friendship, work, and life and death.
Hopefully this is just a start...
What wasn't a surprise were the abundant negative comments about the plays, and that about ten or so subscribers canceled their membership at the theater. The artistic director of Trinity Rep wrote an editorial to respond to the trollers and detractors.
Another beloved theater institution, the Gamm, is tackling race and racism with the play The Rant, which, thankfully, is being performed for a month. I haven't read the comments but I'm sure they won't be much different than they were for Every 28 Hours.
Despite all the negativity from some sectors in the community, I'm grateful that these two major playhouses are willing to address these important topics through the power of theater. However, I'll be much more impressed when they increase the number of actors of color as resident actors, increase the number of people of color as resident artists (e.g. directors), and increase the number of board members of color.
Knowing that race and racism (all the other -isms) are systemic, it'll take more than performing one night (or several nights) of a play about race and racism. It's also about having actors of color performing in roles that have been traditionally relegated to White actors. It's also performing plays written by playwrights of color that don't necessarily address race directly but instead address the enduring themes of family, lovers, friendship, work, and life and death.
Hopefully this is just a start...
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