Public Update on Equity Work ⋆ ACT Theatre

We at ACT Theatre recognize that now is a powerful and invigorating moment of change. We will seize this opportunity to become an anti-racist, fully accessible, multicultural theatre that is truly welcoming to all. With the help of artists, staff, and others, both in Seattle and nationally, including the demands We See You, White American Theatre, ACT has begun the work to reform its policies and procedures to create change at all levels of our institution.

ACT believes in the power of theatre to change lives. For too long the lives that our institution has focused on have been predominantly white and able-bodied. We acknowledge that ACT has worked inside biased systems that have continued to center only a small group of our global community. This has led to systems that have caused harm, and we recognize that we have upheld and perpetuated those systems. We, ACT’s staff, board, and Core Company, stand in solidarity with and are grateful for those who have stood up for change and are honored to join the ongoing fight for racial justice in this country.

We understand that this work is ongoing, and we will continue to share our steps along this journey with you in the spirit of transparency and continuous growth. Our progress will be updated every six months. Below we have listed the steps we have taken as an organization, and provided hyperlinks to more specific information and to track progress.

Where We Are

Formation of the Inclusivity Working Group: The ACT Inclusivity Working Group (IWG) is a joint task force composed of multiethnic, multigenerational, and diverse members of ACT’s staff, board, and Core Company. The IWG seeks to advance ACT’s strategic goals of centering equity and intersectionality in its practice and purpose, fostering transparent communication, and focusing on action. Click for more.
The ACT Inclusivity Working Group (IWG) is a joint task force composed of multiethnic, multigenerational, and diverse members of ACT’s staff, board, and Core Company. It seeks to advance ACT’s strategic goals of centering equity and intersectionality in its practice and purpose, fostering transparent communication, and focusing on action. This group will develop a culture at ACT where everyone can approach the work in an authentic way, and in an environment that is fully inclusive, in order to facilitate a workplace where our energy is focused on producing world-class art for and representative of our community.
Key Responsibilities:

Identifying training and facilitators

Helping ACT determine budget goals allocating dollars for equity

Reviewing external communications

Evaluating and review ACT’s HR policies from an equity perspective and recommend changes as appropriate

Holding ACT accountable for its equity goals by reviewing issues and provide guidance to ACT leadership

Communication strategies for staff, the board, the greater ACT community, and public-facing communication.

Members: Matt Aalfs, Leslie Bernstein, Christine Marie Brown, Skyler Brown, Khanh Doan, John Langs, Ashley Lemmex, Alyssa Montgomery, Sarah Pierre-Louis, Chip Sherman, Becky Witmer, R. Hamilton Wright
Strategic Planning: Our strategic plan implemented in 2018 has undergone a complete redraft, based on the urgency of this moment.
We See You, White American Theatre: We have begun a point-by-point analysis of the We See You, White American Theatre demands and have been developing a detailed action plan for institutional transformation. That work has been slow, but it has also been thorough. We hope to complete the analysis and to publish a fully revised policy handbook by June 2021.
Redefining the Core Company of artists at ACT Theatre as an integral part of the reimagining of ACT Theatre’s ethical mission. Members serve as an artistic advisory council that helps to guide ACT on its path to making meaningful contemporary art. Click for more.
The Core Company is a group of artistic collaborators who support the mission of building community at ACT. The Core Company’s original purpose was to encourage an environment of artistic excellence, while creating a home for local artists to experiment and grow. Lately, the Core Company has redefined itself as an integral part of the reimagining of ACT Theatre’s ethical mission. Members serve as an artistic advisory council that helps to guide ACT on its path to making meaningful contemporary art.
Members: Anne Allgood, Christine Marie Brown, Avery Clark, Khanh Doan, Lindsay Evans, Keiko Green, Yussef El Guindi, Rachel Guyer-Mafune, Reginald A. Jackson, Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako, Brandon O’Neill, Kirsten Potter, Lorenzo Roberts, Chip Sherman, Jasmine Jean Sim, Adam Standley, Ray Tagavilla, Amy Thone, Connor Toms, R. Hamilton Wright
Formation of the Curation Committee: Our goal is more transparency and a reduced likelihood of arbitrary decisions that favor the status quo, by adding new voices and advisors to allow the perspectives of an inclusive community to help inform the decision-makers. Click for more.
Our goal is to bring more diverse voices to the table in the decision-making process for all programming. We strive to define what a great play and great season is for ACT, and commit to publishing clear explanations as to how the decisions are made, the criteria, and what the steps in the process are. Our goal is more transparency, less suspicion, and a reduced likelihood of arbitrary decisions that favor the status quo. We commit to re-examining the gatekeeping function of the curation process and casting a wider net to include and involve new voices.
Members: Anne Allgood, Christine Marie Brown, Keiko Green, Reginald A. Jackson, Lorenzo Roberts
Formation of the Artistic Ethics Committee: The Artistic Ethics Committee seeks to reduce harm and build trust in the creation and production of artistic works at ACT. Click for more.
The Artistic Ethics Committee seeks to reduce harm and build trust in the creation and production of artistic works at ACT. The committee sets concrete actions and guidelines to create safe, anti-racist, inclusive spaces where creative work is done at ACT. The intent of the committee is not to censor but to actively explore areas of potential harm, to set actions to reduce and ideally prevent harm before it occurs, to establish an environment in which participants feel empowered and safe, and to ensure that building artistic trust is baked into the way we work.
Members: Anne Allgood, Khanh Doan, Lindsay Evans, Yussef El Guindi, Rachel Guyer-Mafune, Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako, Chip Sherman, Amy Thone

Where We're Going

At ACT Theatre we make the following commitments for the future. We acknowledge that these commitments are the ground floor of equity measures, not the ceiling, and aim to expand and grow in this work as the conversation evolves:

ACT Organizational & Cultural Change

Commit to re-examining the hierarchical structure of our institutions to ensure equitable participation for BIPOC staff.
Commit to creating safe, equitable, and inclusive work environments through mandatory EDI training for staff, artists, and board members; creating systems to address incidents without fear of retaliation; intervening when incidents occur, to minimize harm; and repairing any harm that has occurred.
Commit to diversifying the Board of Trustees.

Human Resources & Hiring Practices

Commit to hiring an HR employee who is committed to diversity and inclusion.
Commit to transparent hiring practices and working toward a majority-BIPOC staff over the next four years.
Commit to hiring senior artistic and administrative team leadership with BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ representation.

Artistic & Production

Commit to annually reporting BIPOC artistic and production data from our theater, internally and externally. When the aggregated data becomes available, we will share it here.
Commit to ending the practice of all-white production and technical teams through transparent hiring practices and holding our union partners accountable for their role in perpetuating systems that create obstacles to equitable employment.
Commit to including a meaningful BIPOC contribution to season planning and artistic decision-making and to acknowledge that contribution.
- Providing clear explanations of the criteria and process by which artistic decisions are made.
Commit to evaluating all artistic projects through a racial-equity lens through review in both the Inclusivity Working Group and Artistic Ethics Committee.
Commit to ending the practice of all-white design teams and working toward 50% BIPOC representation.
Commit to expanding community outreach in order to engage BIPOC populations and enlarge the base of BIPOC artists, providers, and craftspeople.
Commit to 50% representation of BIPOC playwrights in each season.
Commit to 50% female-identifying playwrights over a period of three years.
Commit to 75% of all commissions going to BIPOC artists over the next five years.
Commit to centering BIPOC voices in all new work initiatives.
Commit to re-examining the workweek structure and hours during a production.

How We Are Getting There - NEW

In the spirit of humility, transparency, and the ever-improving process we are committed to sharing our work on policies and procedures as we continue our journey.

John Langs, Artistic Director; Mary Cadera, Interim Managing Director; Eric Bennett, Chair of the Board of Trustees; Sarah Pierre-Louis, Chair of the Inclusivity Working Group

On behalf of ACT’s Board of Trustees, Core Company Artists and Staff