Ruby Slippers Theatre Will Do More
In addition to ongoing, current efforts that reflect our vision and mission to champion and celebrate diversity in the playwrights, directors, and actors we work with, RST is committed to doing more.
Listening, learning, supporting, and sharing:
- Conducting interviews with BIPOC artists in Canada about their lived experiences of systemic racism within our industry; what needs to happen to create lasting change; and how allies can and must do more, then amplifying and featuring these voices on our communications channels and online platforms, including our website.
- Supporting anti-racism initiatives and organizations directly through donorship, promotion, or collaboration.
Prioritizing diversity and inclusion in our artistic direction and programming, and organizational oversight and operations:
- Diversifying our production teams further.
- Supporting anti-racism initiatives and organizations directly through donorship, promotion, or collaboration.
- Diversifying our performers further, featuring more BIPOC artists in all roles and particularly leading roles.
- Deepen our commitment to BIPOC playwrights and directors.
- Prioritizing BIPOC voices for our Crucial Voices from Quebec series.
Continuing to do the work to expand and deepen our allyship, and continuing to strive in solidarity to change systems of oppression towards shared liberation and reconciliation.
In our 2020/21 season, we will feature six female-identifying Indigenous playwrights and six female-identifying Indigenous directors, with full Indigenous production/design teams.
Resources:
Here is a Vancouver-specific initiative at https://mutualaid.shadowsmile.ca/; this problem is as entrenched here as anywhere.
Also, the VPL put out this fabulous list of children’s ebooks called “Stand Up! Racial Identity, Racism and Resistance for Grades K-7” at https://vpl.overdrive.com/library/kids/collection/1085869
The federal government page of anti-racism resources is at https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/anti-racism-engagement/resources.html
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