Dear Chicago Theater Community,
Another loss for young professionals who are just entering the theater community is the opportunity to see Chicago theater at its finest. With the tumultuous political situation and a decade’s worth of struggle, it truly felt that this was the season of making bold statements. Directors from Lili-Anne Brown (School Girls) to Wardell Julius Clark (Kill Move Paradise), to Tara Branham (Little Women), to Brian Balcom (Teenage Dick)—each of their plays opened up gateways for conversation for people from all walks of life: POC, femme, queer, disabled. Whether via their creative team of designers, writers, and performers, or their subject matter itself, each of their plays was like an act of rebellion showcasing the will of the community and its need to defy the status quo.
However, all hope is not lost . . . not just yet.
We can begin with The Chicago Inclusion Project—founded in 2015 by actor–casting director Emjoy Gavino. This initiative is “a collective of artists, committed to creating inclusive theater experiences by bringing together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by ethnic background, economic status, gender identity, physical ability, and countless other barriers.” The Chicago Inclusion Project has since been successful in aiding conscious casting and introducing upcoming artists who would usually not be seen by theater companies.
There was a chain of journalistic scandals including Hedy Weiss’s controversial remarks surrounding Steppenwolf’s 2017 production of Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over. A group of theatermakers formed the Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition as a first-response group to hold journalists accountable for racism and inequity, cofounded by Ike Holter, Kevin Matthew Reyes, Tony Santiago, Sasha Smith, and Sydney Charles. Their efforts were pivotal and generated conversation across the nation on effective and equitable theater criticism.
