Thoughts on Social Justice

As the entire world reckons with injustices perpetuated by White, Eurocentric, patriarchal systems deeply rooted in society, I have grappled with how I, as a theatre maker and educator, can contribute to dismantling these systems of oppression. I must begin by recognizing the privileges I have been afforded as a cis-gendered, White male, not only in my teaching practice, but also in other positions of power I have held, both personally and professionally. That being said, as I reflect on my work, I believe I have had many successes in creating a just and equitable environment for my students, colleagues, and collaborators.

As a director, I strive to practice “Identity Conscious Casting,” which has been defined as using casting choices to create innovative storytelling through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, and other facets of human identity. Examples of this include an Off-Broadway production of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard set in the American South with Black actors playing the serf characters, in order to illuminate the play’s ideas about class divisions, and a student production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest featuring a woman of color as Prospero, highlighting the play’s themes of oppression and power. I have also worked extensively as a director with IATI Theatre in New York, a company dedicated to hiring and promoting Latinx and Hispanic artists.

When I began working as a teacher at Westfield State University, it quickly became evident that the Theatre Arts Program lacked diversity in both the student population and among the faculty. There was also a striking lack of diversity in playwrights selected for production, with no effort made to meaningfully represent writers of color or even female-identifying playwrights. I have worked to shift this trend over the last several years, working to bring in more students of color by developing relationships with other organizations on campus, such as our Black Student Union and the Urban Education program. We also committed to three consecutive semesters worth of productions written exclusively by writers of color.

I also recognize the need to do more listening to the experiences and needs of those in traditionally marginalized, underrepresented, and silenced communities. In the summer of 2020, I co-hosted with my colleagues in the Theatre Arts Program a town-hall style “listening session” with our students to hear their feelings about issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and about how we as a program can better support students of all backgrounds. As a result, our program revised and clarified its official statement on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, provided additional resources for reporting incidents of racism and discrimination, and revised the process for selecting performance material for both classroom study and for our mainstage season. This also led us to commission a playwright of color to write a piece for us the following semester directly responding to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Over the past several years, I have also reconfigured all my teaching syllabi to compensate for how theatre is overly influenced by White privilege, patriarchy, and Eurocentric models. I have integrated performance traditions from Africa, India, and East Asia, as well as adding studies of diverse artists of color. I am also one of four faculty members at Westfield spearheading an initiative known as “SOAR” to provide support and resources to students of color in the arts, and have presented several educational events and guest speakers in support if this mission.

I recognize that there is always more work to be done. I continue to educate myself through independent research on anti-racism and White privilege, and by participating in associated workshops offered by both the Westfield State University Faculty Center and by outside organizations like the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. I hope to use this experience to be a better ally to colleagues and students who are members of the global majority or part of other marginalized communities.