A Diversity Issue
Submitted by barcode 2x on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 22:55.
BY BARTON BUND, THE BLACKBIRD THEATRE
I intend this essay as a means to help foster a dialogue on diversity in the theater world. I welcome your comments.
Recently, I was kindly asked to sit in on an audition workshop at the Purple Rose Theater. The students performed their monologues for me and several Artistic Directors from other theaters in the area, as well as a local film director and three casting agents. At the end of the class, we answered their questions.
One student, an African-American/Latino man, asked what we were doing about diversity at our theaters. I answered that at the Blackbird Theater, we have a fully integrated company of actors and directors. I gave specific examples of how we have culturally diversified our play selection, including our productions of the all African American Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and for colored girls…
He then asked what we were doing for the Latino community. Another panelist stepped in to suggest that he write a play, create a company, and perform it. Many companies have done just that. When the industry cannot provide enough work, many people decide to create their own. But I know that that answer may not make anyone feel better. I felt a real chill; this was an alienating moment. No matter what we all suggested, no matter what attempts we made to create integration in our theaters, it might never be enough. I was angry at the presumption made by the student. I was stumped, helpless, bewildered.
I thought Haven’t we done enough? A few years ago, an actress told me that she wanted to audition for us, but there were only five female roles in the entire season. So I threw out the season I had planned, and deliberately sough out ways to employ more women, and not only in the acting company. I wanted women directing. I wanted to create a company where gender equality was beyond question, where no one would doubt whether we had done enough. I wanted to reach out and create opportunities for our diverse acting community.
But here, six years into our theater’s existence, and there are doubters out there. So I consider several issues in how to diversify each season:
· Colorblind and genderblind casting. For years, we have cast the right actor for the role no matter what. We have had a woman play Hamlet on our stage. This model always applies, except in cases that the role very specifically calls for a white actor. That is a specific choice, an aesthetic and thematic choice by the director. Many roles could, and are, played by actors of non-white races. A dear actor friend of mine, an African-American male, has only once played a role written for a black man. It was Othello, in high school.
· In picking the plays in the season, I try to play a numbers game and see whether or not we can truly create equal opportunities. This season, the scale tipped over and we cast more women than men.
· I want to avoid tokenism. If we throw one show into each season that features an all African-American cast, it’s not enough. Diversity is not just about doing a black play, a gay play, a Jewish play, or a women’s play, etc. When we cast The Glob, we had a Lebanese man playing the all-American boy whose girlfriend was white. An albino African-American woman played a nun, and she made out with him. The white girlfriend’s 8-year-old brother was played by an Asian woman, and the leader of greaser gang was Latino, and he falls in love with an Israeli woman twenty years his senior. Now that’s diversity.
· When we produced Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, we drew many patrons from Detroit’s African-American population. Our audience was very integrated and diverse. It does not mean that the same people will return for the next production. When we represented a particular community, we got their support. When we produce plays with all white actors, we are not surprised that the black community does not come out in droves. A majority of our regular patrons are liberal white couples over the age of 40.
· Most of the diversity that we put into each season is done quietly, without drawing too much attention to itself. Our acting company is diverse to begin with. It is not by design. We have created an artistic family of mixed backgrounds, and it happened all by itself.
All I can do is try. And a voice in the back of my head still knows that it is not enough. There are people out there struggling to get onstage. I still wonder what I could be doing differently. I leave that question open.
