June 19, 2018 By Leilani Chan

Statement read at a session titled “How We Move Forward” on Saturday, June 16th at the TCG Conference regarding the Friday, June 15th performance of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway at the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (The MUNY). The transcript below was created in only a few hours by artistic leaders of color from across the country in response to the production. This transcript has been edited for punctuation, grammar, and wider inclusivity.

Video from TCG “How We Move Forward” Session (via Facebook)

Last night, Friday, June 15 at St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, known as The MUNY, representatives of Theatres of Color nationwide demonstrated the power of collective resistance to systemic oppression against people of color. When those who benefit from those systems fail to acknowledge the ways in which those systems oppress others, it limits our ability to live up to the promises of who we say we are as a nation.

When the theatre industry allows instances of black face, brown face, red face, yellow face, crip face, disability drag, and heteronormativity, it sends the message that these types of representations are acceptable.

Let us be clear: they are not acceptable and will not be tolerated by communities of color and our allies.

We acknowledge that all American theater takes place on occupied Indigenous land — and that in this particular case, the performance takes place in a region from which all Indigenous peoples were violently and forcibly removed. Under those (or any) circumstances, the derisive use of Native American headdresses — ceremonial pieces with deep spiritual meaning for many tribal nations — is especially egregious.

After many years of advocacy and education, we see the need for continued action and transparency around theatre practices and performances that reinforce systemic white supremacy in our industry. Even if The MUNY’s 11,000 seat production of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway had been cast, directed, or presented with a contemporary contextualization, the original form culturally appropriates and therefore is inherently racist and is painful and offensive with racial and ethnic stereotypes. We refuse to turn away or ignore and thereby be complicit with the actions and portrayals that wound our colleagues, friends, neighbors, and families in the name of “tradition.”

TCG was immediately reactive to our concerns and for that we are immensely grateful. However, the continued silence from our professional theatre community at large around these destructive narratives that mock marginalized people only ensure the continued oppression and economic, emotional, physical, and sexual violence against those who cannot access the agency afforded to the dominant culture. Additionally, inaction on these irresponsible production choices results in historically white theaters continuing to receive 55% of all federal arts funding. This allows these privileged few to have the power and access to shape the way race and ethnicity are portrayed on stage, further enabling the dehumanization of people of color, women, and the working class.

Theatre is the space for communication, and for intellectual, and emotional process. As artist and agitators, intellectuals and art makers, we are conveyors of the thoughtful, heartfelt, inquiry and action to which our nation aspires.

As representatives of Theatres of Color nationwide, we continue in the tradition of the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, Standing Rock, Stonewall, #insteadofredface, #BlackLivesMatter, Beyond Orientalism, #MyYellowFaceStory, and #MeToo.

We voiced our dissent against the minstrelsy in The MUNY’s production of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway last night. With members of the theater community nationwide, we stand in solidarity with the St. Louis theater community, and are here to support your efforts to address the systemic oppression reflected in The MUNY’s production. We support artists involved in the production, and seek to further a national conversation around these issues. We also encourage The MUNY to hold a public forum to address communities of color to hear our voices and experiences, and to mutually come to a way forward.

We charge the American theater community to engage in sometimes uncomfortable conversations which are often ignored by predominantly white institutions as too difficult to engage in, and dismissed as not relevant to their audiences. We are here to assert that this is a conversation that is essential both to our audiences and our shared humanity.

ORIGINAL STATEMENT SIGN THIS STATEMENT

SIGNED

Peter J. Kuo Freelance Director/Producer/Educator TCG Rising Leaders of Color Grantee New York, NYSupporter

Roger Tang Executive Director Pork Filled Productions Seattle, WASupporter

Leslie Ishii Co-Chair, Steering Committee and Founder/Director CAATA and National Cultural Navigation Theatre Project Los Angeles,
CA Statement Contributor, Supporter

Quita Sullivan Program Director, Theater New England Foundation for the Arts Boston, MAStatement Contributor, Supporter

Khanisha Foster Individual Artist Los Angeles, CA Statement Contributor, Supporter

Meena Malik Program Coordinator, National Theater Project New England Foundation for the Arts Boston, MA Supporter

Jenny Marlowe Artistic Associate Indigenous Direction Los Angeles, CA Statement Contributor

Ron Himes Founder/Producing Director The Black Rep St. Louis, MO Supporter

Kyoung H. Park Artistic Director Kyoung's Pacific Beat Brooklyn, NY Protestor

Kayla Kim Votapek Associate Producer Crossroads Theatre Company New Brunswick, NJ Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Ako Artistic Producing Director AMATERASU ZA NYC, NY Protestor

Celine Song Playwright New York Supporter

Andrea Assaf Artistic & Executive Director Art2Action, Inc. Tampa, FL / New York, NY Protestor

Shannon Fitzgerald Managing Director Theater Mu Saint Paul, MN Supporter

Isaac Gomez Playwright Chicago, IL Supporter

Vijay Mathew Cultural Strategist HowlRound Theatre Commons Boston, Massachusetts Supporter

Jamie Gahlon Co-Founder HowlRound Boston, MA Supporter

JD Stokely HowlRound Fellow/True Colors LGBTQ Youth Troupe Co-Director HowlRound/The Theatre Offensive Boston, MA Supporter

Trevor Boffone Founder 50 Playwrights Project Houston, TX Supporter

Amelia Acosta Powell Steering Committee Member Latinx Theatre Commons Ashland Supporter

Alexandra Meda Artistic Director Teatro Luna Los Angeles and Chicago Supporter

Arlene Martinez-Vazquez Founder Thriving Artists Theatre Company Seattle, WA Supporter

Roy A Arauz Steering Committee Member/Producing Creative Director LTC / Milagro Portland Supporter

rose cano Artistic Director - eSe Teatro eSe Teatro: Seattle Latinos Take Stage Seattle Protestor

Randy Reyes Artistic Director Theater MuTwin Cities, MN Protestor

Carolina San Juan, PhD Arts Education Director East West Players Los Angeles Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Larissa FastHorse Co-founder Indigenous Direction Los Angeles, CA Statement Contributor

Ty Defoe Co-founder Indigenous Direction New York, NY Supporter

Randy Wong-Westbrooke Freelance Scenic Designer San Francisco, CA Protestor, Supporter

Mina Morita Artistic Director Crowded Fire Theater Company San Francisco, CA Supporter

Alison Carey Director, American Revolutions Oregon Shakespeare Festival Ashland, Oregon Supporter

Bernardo Mazón Daher Co-Founder TuYo Theatre San Diego, CA Supporter

Elizabeth Nungaray Community Engagement Coordinator Chicago Shakespeare Chicago, IL Supporter

Martine Kei Green-Rogers President LMDA West Hurley, NY Supporter

Kate Moore Heaney Associate Artistic Producer Noor Theatre New York, NY Supporter

Leilani Chan Founding Artistic Director TeAda Productions Santa Monica, CA Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Andi Meyer Director of Management Programs Tradewind Arts Kansas City, MO Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Ariel Estrada Founder and Producing Artistic Director Leviathan Lab New York, NY Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Samson Syharath Founding Core Member Media Rites’ Theatre Diaspora Portland, OR Statement Contributor, Supporter

Nicole Serio Producing Associate Crossroads Theatre Company New Brunswick, NJ Supporter

Abigail Vega LTC Producer Latinx Theatre Commons Statement Contributor, Supporter

Claudia Alick Artistic Producer Calling Up Supporter

Monica Ndounou Associate Professor Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire Statement Contributor, Supporter

Daniel Bryant Director of Community Engagement Baltimore Center Stage Baltimore, MD Supporter

Aaron Todd Douglas Lecturer Northwestern University Evanston, IL Supporter

Chris Anthony Managing Director California Repertory Theatre Long Beach, CA Supporter

Kamal Hans Producing Artistic Director Rasaka Theatre Company Chicago, IL Supporter

Taous Khazem Actress/Director/Teaching Artist St. Paul, MN Supporter

Ariana Cook Managing Director Cara Mía Theatre Co. Dallas, Texas Statement Contributor, Supporter

DAVID MENDIZÁBAL Producing Artistic Leader The Movement Theatre Company New York, NY Statement Contributor, Supporter

Anna Skidis Vargas Founder/Artistic Director Theatre Nuevo St. Louis, MO Statement Contributor, Supporter

John Rooney Steppenwolf Theatre Company Chicago, IL Statement Contributor, Supporter

Christina Rios Artistic Director R-S Theatrics St. Louis, MO Statement Contributor, Supporter

Alexa Antopol Accomplice New York, New York Statement Contributor, Supporter

Kamal Hans Producing Artistic Director Rasaka Theatre Company Chicago, Illinois Protestor, Supporter

Nancy Lipschultz Professor IU Bloomington Bloomington IN Supporter

Gabe Taylor Co-Artistic Director Theatre Nuevo St. Louis, MO Supporter

Carl Overly, Jr St Louis Supporter

Pia Haddad Creative Producer/Actor 3k2 Productions New York, NY Supporter

Fiore Barbini Actor AEA New York NY Supporter

Tracy Cameron Francis Free-lance director TCG Rising Leaders of Color cohort Supporter

Erika Crane Ricketts Actor Overland Park, KS Supporter

Rebecca Martínez Freelance Director; Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee Member Brooklyn, NY Supporter

Kevin Duong Marketing & Communications Associate Theater Mu St. Paul, MN Supporter

Sylvia Kwan Actress Los Angeles CA Supporter

Jeannie Barroga Playwright Self - organization Sausalito Supporter

Olga Sanchez Saltveit PhD Candidate University of Oregon Portland, Oregon Supporter

Carrie Preston Professor Boston University Massachusetts Supporter

Ron P. Muriera Development Director San Jose Stage Company San Jose, CA Supporter

Rachel Brink Supporter Tampa Supporter

Monica Cortés Viharo Doctoral Candidate University of Washington, School of Drama Seattle, Wa Supporter

Rachel Grossman Ensemble Directordog & pony dc Washington, DC Protestor, Statement Contributor, Supporter

Kiel Williams Student Fort Cooperative Jamaica Plain Supporter

Greg Watanabe Actor, company member Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors Ashland, Oregon Protestor, Supporter

Amelia Parenteau Supporter

Alberto Isaac actor/director Los Angeles, CA Supporter

Catherine Co-founder Blindspot Collective Theatre San Diego, CA Supporter

Ramona Ostrowski Associate Produced HowlRound Boston, MA Supporter

Judith WriterPenUltimate Communications Ithaca, NY Supporter

Nicholas Orvis Dramaturg Bronx Supporter

Julie Haverkate Literary & Editorial Associate New York, NY Supporter

Christina J Moore Executive Artistic Director ScriptWorks Austin, TX Supporter

Alexis Macnab Assistant Professor; Artistic Director Sonoma State University San Francisco, CA Supporter

Samuel M Hack Artistic Director Clayton Community Theatre St. Louis MO Supporter

Donatella Galella Assistant Professor UC Riverside Riverside, CA Supporter

Seeley Quest Concordia University Supporter

Kerry Reid Freelance arts journalist and critic Chicago, Illinois Supporter

Maren S Robinson Resident Dramaturg TimeLine Theatre Chicago Supporter

Amy Brooks Program Director & Dramaturg Roadside Theater Big Stone Gap, VA Supporter

Rena Heinrich Theater professor, Freelance director USC Los Angeles, CA Supporter

Karen Jean Martinson Assistant Professor Chicago State University Chicago, ILS upporter

Mo Studio resident Charlotte Street Foundation Kansas City, MO Supporter

Andrea Kovich Freelance dramaturg Seattle, WA Supporter

Dan Venning Assistant Professor of Theatre Union College Schenectady, NY Supporter

Jeremy Stoller Freelance dramaturg New York, NY Supporter

Adrian Centeno Literary Manager Playwrights' Arena Los Angeles, CA Supporter

Matthew Krawcheck Mr.Charlotte Street Foundation Kansas City, Missouri Supporter

Jordana Fraider Programs Director National New Play Network Los Angeles, CA Supporter

Anna Kull Director of Communications & People The Lark New York Protestor, Supporter

Tiffany Wilhelm Program Officer Opportunity Fund Pittsburgh, PA Supporter

Additional names forthcoming
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