This summer, in reaction to the civil unrest in America, there have been calls for sweeping change in the American theatre industry from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) theatremakers. These calls have been taking place both within our local community and nationally through the collective We See You WAT (White American Theatre). Brave Spirits Theatre hears the calls for us to examine and change harmful and racist practices. We know we have a particular responsibility to this work given the additional levels of gatekeeping found within the Shakespeare industry. As such, we also must acknowledge that our efforts so far have not succeeded in achieving truly meaningful, lasting diversity at BST. We are evaluating not only what our next steps are but also how our current strategies might be improved, and making a commitment to continue this work on an ongoing basis.
Following our previous open access initiatives, all of our internal policy documents are now available for public view on our website. They include a full breakdown of BST’s commitment to anti-racism and intersectionality as well as a comprehensive list of pledges and actions.
In response to the call for greater transparency and more deliberate anti-racist practices, BST is also immediately taking the following actions as a part of the 2020-21 season:
- Forming a committee composed of board members, artists, and community members to assess anti-racism and intersectionality at BST on an ongoing basis
- Taking actions to diversify the board immediately
- Refreshing BST’s mission, vision, and values
- Reassessing the company model, with a focus on how to empower marginalized voices
- Performing a demographics survey with the artists from the past ten years who have applied for, been offered, and accepted jobs with BST to offer full accountability
- Publishing financial reports of BST’s history and creating an end-of-year report moving forward
These reports will be available on our website as they are completed. BST is committed to doing more and doing better and to ongoing engagement with anti-racist practices and learning. We are thankful to the writers of the We See You WAT Demands and to BIPOC artists who have worked with BST for their time and feedback. The journey to making theatre more diverse, inclusive, and just is an ongoing process; we are excited for the work ahead and for the opportunity to better fulfill our mission.