Theater Mu & Penumbra: Abuse of Power and Other Things We Shouldn’t Go Back to When We Go Back To Work

I was Blacklisted by a group of Artistic Directors in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Here’s what happened, is still happening, and how independent artists can be part of the change and stand in solidarity with one another.

WATCH: Click here (or scroll to the bottom) to access the video version of this post, or continue reading the transcript below.

Transcript of Video:

Hey All.

I’m just going to jump right in.

I’ve been talking with a lot of independent theater artists here in Minneapolis & St. Paul about things opening back up, and going back to work, and I realized that this isn’t new; the phenomenon of independent theater artists talking amongst ourselves about the decisions that are being made “above our pay grade” and how that impacts us.

And the thing I realized is that we talk like this all the time, and who knows if the stuff that we bring up to each other makes it into the eyes and ears of people who have power in our community; the, the decision makers at theater companies; the Artistic Directors.

So I wanted to come on here, um, I was going to write a piece about this, but I think it’s important that whoever is watching this can see my face and hear my voice for transparency.

A lot of us have been calling for more transparency in our communities, whether it’s in the theater community or with police and local governments, so if I’m going to call for transparency, I gotta be transparent. So that’s why I’m doing it this way, and not writing a piece about it. So you can see my face, and see my lips moving because I’m actually saying this. Maybe I’ll transcribe it for accessibility, but. Yeah, I got notes and stuff, too so…

I know there are a lot of conversations being had between independent theater artists about “coming back,” and specifically what we don’t want to come back to.

I know that these conversations are happening because I’m having them and the people I talk to reference other conversations they’re having so I want to lay out one of those things I definitely don’t want to come back to, and that’s the toxicity that is pervasive in our community, and how power plays into how that toxicity…