Fantastic conversation. I’m not sure if John has addressed the We See You White American Theatre before but this is the first time I have heard him talk about this manifesto. As a white actor who thought that our theater community was a very open and unbiased place for the past many years I was very shocked + depressed when the manifesto appeared in 2020 but soon learned that there were few white colleagues that I could talk about this with. So we gathered in little phone conversations and whispered about it. Certain friends were horrified when I expressed my doubts about this approach. My doubts being that the theatre could not be torn apart on racial lines. But clearly it was a power grab. And if you wanted to keep working in the theater you had to sign on with this manifesto.
I have a friend who had a very promising theater career ahead of her, but has more or less stopped directing shows altogether, due to Wokeness. In a State where black people constitute less than 7% of the population, theaters/companies/playwrights/etc virtually all act as if all shows' casts must be nationally representative of the black population, and that half of the US population is black!
Fantastic conversation. I’m not sure if John has addressed the We See You White American Theatre before but this is the first time I have heard him talk about this manifesto. As a white actor who thought that our theater community was a very open and unbiased place for the past many years I was very shocked + depressed when the manifesto appeared in 2020 but soon learned that there were few white colleagues that I could talk about this with. So we gathered in little phone conversations and whispered about it. Certain friends were horrified when I expressed my doubts about this approach. My doubts being that the theatre could not be torn apart on racial lines. But clearly it was a power grab. And if you wanted to keep working in the theater you had to sign on with this manifesto.
So grateful to hear these conversations.
I have a friend who had a very promising theater career ahead of her, but has more or less stopped directing shows altogether, due to Wokeness. In a State where black people constitute less than 7% of the population, theaters/companies/playwrights/etc virtually all act as if all shows' casts must be nationally representative of the black population, and that half of the US population is black!