Barrington Stage’s response to the “We See You White American Theatre”

As of 10/19/2022

Barrington Stage has committed to make meaningful changes to address the systemic racism built into our theatre and our industry, as we strive to be an anti-racist theatre. While we are proud of the steps we have taken so far, we know that we are just beginning and even more needs to be done to make our theatre a place of belonging for our Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) colleagues and community.

We hold ourselves accountable to our original pledges to the community and have been treating these pledges and the process as one that is living and constantly evolving. We are happy to report on these changes, growths and learnings on this document.

OUR ORIGINAL STATEMENT:

Barrington Stage Company is grateful to the creators of the “We See You White American Theatre” document for producing a clear call to action for our theatre and industry. We understand and acknowledge that this list of demands stems from the harm caused to BIPOC artists and theatre professionals over generations of racist policies.

The pandemic has devastated the theatre industry in an unprecedented way, but this unexpected pause provides us the opportunity to create a more equitable, inclusive and just organization and industry. It is time to reimagine a theatre culture not steeped in white supremacy and oppression, but one that exists as an anti-racist community.

We recognize that Barrington Stage Company is a predominantly white institution, and one that has been served by and is complicit with the structures of racism that dominate the theatre industry. The events of the past few months have compelled us to dig deeper, to examine ourselves, our practices, and our culture, asking what we can do to affect meaningful change. We are committed to listening to the BIPOC community as we begin to take action with a more informed and open mind and heart.

Barrington Stage Company has produced racially diverse voices and has challenged our audiences with the content on our stages since its inception. Our season that was planned before the pandemic included more than 50% BIPOC artists across a range of plays and musicals; while that season was not produced, we are now able to examine more fully our practices in all areas of support for productions by BIPOC artists. We commit to supporting that work with more sensitivity and awareness of our privilege. We acknowledge that we especially fall short in developing a BIPOC audience and recruiting a BIPOC staff. We are newly energized to do the work necessary to create a more just and inclusive Barrington community.

We reaffirm our commitment to stand in solidarity with the members of the Black community as well as Indigenous and People of Color. It is our most fervent hope that we too will meet this moment, and emerge with more just, equitable and anti-racist theatre. We are taking the following steps — publicly and with transparency:

Land Acknowledgement/Inclusion Statements

  • We acknowledge that our organization sits on the ancestral lands of the Mohican people. To learn more about them and make a donation to the Historic Preservation or Library/Museum of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, click here.
  • We acknowledge that much of the culture, economic growth and development in our region resulted from the unpaid labor and forced servitude of People of Color. We have created a clear and enforceable Anti-Racism Policy. Additionally, we have created an accountability committee made of Board & Staff members.
  • We have incorporated our Land Acknowledgement, Anti-Racism Statement and EDIA Statement into our organization’s Bylaws and publish them on our website,  Season Playbill and in the credits of our digital programming.
  • We read out loud our Land Acknowledgement, Anti-Racism Statement and EDIA Statement:
    • at the first rehearsal and first orchestra rehearsal of each show
    • at staff meetings and board meetings, three times a year
    • at the first day of our education programs
    • at seasonal staff and volunteer orientations
    • at quarterly board meetings

Artistic Practices

  • We commit to continue our practice of having at least half of our commissions from BIPOC writers.
  • We will continue to implement programming providing culturally equal representation in stories, artists, and creatives.
  • We will hire BIPOC directors and choreographers on BIPOC shows and commit that those shows will not be solely about racialized experiences or trauma.
  • We have eliminated the usage of the term “Mainstage/Second Stage” in order to remove the construct that consistently relegates work by BIPOC artists to a secondary position.
  • We have hired and will continue to hire BIPOC dramaturgs on shows by BIPOC writers and/or about BIPOC people or communities.
  • We will hire only fight directors, intimacy directors, wardrobe and costume shop employees with training or experience working with BIPOC artists or we will provide anti-racism training for those who have not received it elsewhere.
  • We will provide an on-call therapist trained in Anti-Racism for shows that deal with racialized experiences, when necessary.
  • We will provide culturally competent talkback facilitators for shows.
  • We compensate any artist asked to perform at a donor/special event.
  • We have eliminated 10 out of 12 rehearsals.
  • We compensate any performer or artist, professional or non-professional, for their time and talents when presented on any of our stages.

Community Engagement

  • Since 2020, we have added three additional Black community members to our Community Advisory Board.
  • We have created the Black Voices Matter program that includes free online readings of Black plays and the annual Celebration of Black Voices Festival, all free for our community.
  • We will continue deepening our connection with the community by engaging with local and national artists in our Celebration of Black Voices Festival.
  • We need to increase marketing resources for BIPOC shows to reach their intended audience as well as continuing to reserve tickets for BIPOC audience members.
  • In addition to our continuing partnerships with the NAACP, ROPE (Rites of Passage and Empowerment Program for adolescent girls) and West Side Legends, we have proactively sought out community partners for projects like Latinas413, Festival Latino, Black Economic Council, BlackShires and the Berkshire Immigrant Center.
  • To help serve our local audiences we offered free Youth tickets to our world premiere production of The Supadupa Kid, which centers around a teenage superhero of color.
  • We offer discounted tickets for adults & youth for every production. Click here to learn more about accessible tickets.

Board

  • Our Board has completed three EDIA/Anti-Racism training sessions and will continue these sessions twice a year beginning in 2022.
  • We have added a Black artist to our Board and will proactively seek additional BIPOC Board members.
  • We have published all of our Board members’ outside Board affiliations online.

Staff Training and Recruitment

  • Our Staff began tri-annually EDIA/Anti-Racism training sessions in Fall 2019 and will continue indefinitely.
  • We have formed an Accountability Committee within our year-round staff to examine all aspects of our organization to uncover where racism is built into our systems and to find new ways to move forward as a more inclusive organization.
  • We have committed to Anti-Racism, EDIA and Bystander training for all of our full-time staff, seasonal staff and interns.
  • We began the process of creating an EDIA plan with EDIA Consultant, Leticia Haynes, that will be implemented over the course of the next 2–3 years.
  • We have implemented a transparent and accountable workplace Code of Conduct that explicitly disavows white supremacy and other racist ideas/ideals. Click here to read it.
  • We will implement meaningful Anti-Racism and EDIA education for all visiting artists, designers, volunteers, teachers, conservatory students and musicians. Including training on Anti-Racist Theatre, De-escalation, Harassament Prevention, Gender Inclusivity and Bystander training.
  • We will provide theatre personnel (including front of house, concessions, etc.) with Anti-Racist, Implicit Bias, Anti-Oppression and Bystander Training.
  • We have aggressively examined our internship and professional training programs and the ways in which they have centered on the White experience and learning models, which has led to a new focus on equity and examination of gatekeeping practices in our internship program. We are exploring ways to focus on training and education in the program, while offering an increased stipend, and we continue to offer free housing and a cap of working hours each week.

Hiring Practices

  • We have removed “years of experience” and “education requirements” from all job postings and added clear salary ranges.
  • We now require all candidates in the first round of interviews of each position to be asked the same set of questions to give each candidate a level playing field in the interview process.
  • We have created scholarships for BIPOC artists in our internship and professional training programs and are offering BIPOC mentorship opportunities whenever possible.
  • We have partnered with existing organizations such as The Wellspring Group and Barr Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative (BKMAI)  in order to better address EDIA in the workplace. 
  • We have hired a BIPOC marketing director who works in tandem with Community Engagement Staff.
  • We work only with executive search firms that have BIPOC consultants on staff.

We acknowledge that this list is by no means complete and that it is only two years into our work. We know we will make mistakes as we strive to become an anti-racist theatre company, but Barrington Stage is resolute in our determination to eradicate racism in our organization. We will continue to listen to the needs of our BIPOC community and work towards these goals. We will share our progress on our website, making adjustments as necessary and adding new initiatives based on what we learn.