What Comes Next? On anti-racism in the theatre and our commitments as a company
2020. What a year.
A big year full of VERY necessary change, an identity crisis, boredom, exhaustion, longing for people you didn’t even know you cared for that much. A year of feeling a strong desire to work but also the fear of what going back to work means, of very long sticks tickling your brain so you can have some certainty that it really is “just allergies”.
A year of deep loneliness sprung from the lack of live theatre, of collaboration in the rehearsal room, of warm audiences with big belly laughs that give us an adrenaline rush.
What a year.
However, all these feelings are inferior to the very important social shifts that are occurring everyday to make our world a more inclusive, equal and safe place for Indigenous and Black people of colour.
This year has sparked some very significant questions for me as I consider my future as an artist. Every choice we make, every story we tell, every person we cast has a voice. It speaks volumes to who we are now, to what future we see. It speaks to how we will take part in creating change.
I have been ignorant for so long about the Black Lives Matter movement in Toronto and beyond, but I am writing now to firmly stand with the BIPOC communities who are standing up, speaking out and taking action everyday. This is a promise that I as a person, and Mixtape Projects as a company will take concrete actions to consciously combat racism in our artistic and everyday practices.
As a company, we are committing in the coming year to:
Connect with BIPOC artists in Toronto to form meaningful connections and diversify the pool of performers we know and devise projects with
To complete a review of all upcoming projects to make sure they are actively inclusive and anti-racist
To appoint a Head of Health and Wellness to each project to assure the physical safety and mental well being of each member of our projects, as well as to flag any areas of concern our BIPOC performers and crew members may be experiencing
To make all future performances accessible to all
I acknowledge that as a white woman I will never be able to fully comprehend the challenges that BIPOC artists face daily, but I can commit to maintaining an actively anti-racist artistic practice and to creating inclusive performances where everyone feels safe and represented.
Margot
