the week of march 1-5, 2021
here comes the real ASC reporting
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Identity design by Elizabeth Haley Morton.
follow-up on ethan mcsweeny & ASC
Last week I excoriated media outlets for their glossed-over coverage of Ethan McSweeny’s resignation from ASC and this week J.R. Pierce and American Theatre delivered the in-depth reporting I wanted and the ASC staff deserves.
The article delves into the specifics of McSweeny’s “abusive, manipulative, and dangerous behavior” in the staff letter to Board, the organization’s failed response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and how the pandemic — and the company’s decision to break ties with Equity and produce in-person performances last summer — exacerbated existing issues to a boiling point. Pierce also explores the company’s new actor-manager leadership model.
I wrote last week that “it’s finally registering that [boards are] also responsible for protecting and investing in a theatre’s greatest asset: its workers.” Based on this reporting, the ASC board isn’t quite there yet:
Three Save the ASC signatories…waited until the day after ASC’s season concluded in October to deliver their letter to the board. Though they were pleased that the board responded quickly with an internal investigation, they became increasingly worried when they heard nothing for months. It was essentially radio silence until the signatories heard from their selected representatives, who worked directly with board representatives on behalf of the group, that the board had made a decision. What was the decision? They couldn’t learn, because it was a “personnel issue,” and many of the signatories were no longer employees, as their season contracts had ended.
Ultimately they found out about McSweeny’s departure only after it was final and the news was announced publicly—an approach they found lacking in closure and accountability. As one signatory put it, “There was absolutely no humanity in how this process was handled. There was just no sort of acknowledgement that people went through actual traumatizing situations with this man.”
This is why board statements about companies “moving forward” after an abusive leader resigns infuriate me. Organizational toxicity is never concentrated in one person, so it can’t be fully eradicated with their removal. A theatre can’t fully “move on” without its remaining leadership acknowledging their own complicity and how they enable power structures that make the act of speaking up difficult, risky, and futile.
this week in distressing ideas & news
Governor Cuomo announced that limited live performances — with sharply reduced capacity limits, masking, and social distancing — can resume on April 2nd in New York. Arts venues are allowed to operate at 33 percent capacity, with a limit of 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors. Equity called on Cuomo to “put workers first and prioritize getting members of the arts sector vaccinated.” The news comes as New York is adding new coronavirus cases at one of the highest rates in the country.
Meanwhile, a new research survey of DC theatregoers showed that 52 percent will be ready to return to theatres — in December. The number “rises to 60 percent for January 2022, and does not reach at least two thirds of the audience considering themselves very willing to attend shows until March or April of 2022 (67 percent).” The survey also measured digital theatre viewing habits and support for anti-racism efforts.
virtual theatre
Vivian J.O. Barnes’ Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! starts streaming March 10th on Steppenwolf NOW. Directed by Weyni Mengesha, the 35-minute filmed play is loosely inspired by Meghan Markle and the royal family and “uses the monarchy to investigate how society’s institutions of power affect Black women.”
Woolly Mammoth released RESET, a new digital collection featuring historical resources, excerpts, and video performances. The project was curated by Nicole M. Brewer, Faedra Chatard Carpenter, Jordan Ealey, Kristen Jackson, Leticia Ridley, and Nikkole Salter.
Aya Ogawa’s Ludic Proxy: Fukushima starts streaming March 6th with Play Co/Japan Society. The video adaptation of her 2015 play uses “video games as dramaturgy”, incorporating virtual reality and live-audience polling to determine its protagonist’s fate.
the great american AD shuffle
May Adrales is the new artistic director of The Lark. Adrales returns to The Lark, where she was director of artistic programs from 2008 to 2010, after nearly a decade at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.
Lanise Antoine Shelley is the new artistic director of the House Theatre of Chicago. Shelley, a Chicago-based artist, actor, and director, hopes to “diversify the company’s storytelling and make it reflective, ideally, of the entire globe.”
things I read this week
Sarah Cooke on Love Story: A Meal in Five Courses, a interactive play about love, relationships, and intimacy — delivery pizza included — and how a little hospitality can forge connection (Washington City Paper)
