Black Theater: Survival Through the Black Community © Pt. 4
State of Black Theater
“...because of the perverse notion we have in this country that people are being reverse
racist by creating their own cultural institutions…funders would rather give money to a
white theater doing a black play than a black theater doing a multiracial play. That’s
really problematic—I don’t want to call it reverse racism. Is there such a term as inverse
racism? Is that such a term?” ~Michael Dinwiddie – Former President of Black Theater Network
Black theaters have suffered inequity within American culture. Black theater is a microcosm of the larger community. Bill Strickland, former Chairman of The Association of American Cultures (TAAC) is quoted as saying during a keynote speech at TAAC, “…unless we come up with a broad-based strategy that includes as yet unexplored areas of revenue generation that go beyond audience development, there will not be any organizations around to document our artistic and cultural history. We have got to define the needs of our communities and come up with strategies consistent with those needs,” (Bowles 1993). The importance of creating a sustainable business model within Black theaters goes beyond ensuring its continued existence, but transcends into being a vital tool for Black communities; a tool in which the true integration of both will continue to support and feed the other. But in order to successfully achieve this goal, a deep and clear understanding of the challenges endemic to Black theater is necessary.
Where are We on the stage?
You have to know where you came from, how you got there, and where you currently are before you can ultimately discern where you are going. The representation of African Americans in the theater landscape is sad at best. It is so sad that the League of Resident Theaters (LORT) started a Diversity Initiative in 2014 with a Diversity Task Force. Their task was to find and recommend actionable steps towards greater diversity within their staffing. My research in 2013 found 95 Black theater companies listed across the country. Of that number, over 38% were no longer active. The Theater Communications Group (TCG), a national organization of American theater networking and advancement, had nearly 700 members across the country only of which 12 were Black theaters. That is just under 2% of TCG member theater companies who were managed by African Americans or were focused on the African American Diaspora (TCG Publications 2016). This is compared to the 14.3% of Americans who identify as African American (either Only or as Part) (United States Census Bureau 2014).
Moreover, of the 79 theater listed as LORT members, Crossroads Theater Company, in New Jersey (who closed its doors in 2000 and reopened them in 2004) was the only theater of color listed as a member of LORT (Whye 2004:12). Between the time of Crossroads’ closing and 2016, Crossroads Theater allowed their LORT membership to expire and currently works under a “Special Appearance Agreement” contract which allows Equity actors to work in non-equity theater houses. My research found that none of the 95 Black theaters I discovered were members of LORT. In investigating the differences between LORT members and the list of 95 Black theaters I found that LORT members they earned just over $7 Million a year, whereas the same sampling of the Black theater companies found that their average revenue was around $900,000 a year.
There is nothing in the membership requirements nor in the by-laws that state an organization must earn a certain amount in revenue in order to be a member of LORT. Further, in 2011 it was found that, "Groups with budgets greater than $5 million represent less than 2% of the total population of arts and culture groups, yet in 2009, these organizations received 55% of all contributions, gifts and grants,” (Sidford 2011). it is evident that there is a wealth gap. The statistics show that TCG and LORT members do not reflect the numbers of African Americans in America nor do they provide a proportional reflection of the number of Black theaters in America.
Eurocentric theater companies were producing far more multi-cultural performances in 2016 than in 1986. This can be seen in the the all-black casting of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2008, non traditional casting of Cyrano in 2007, such Broadway hits as Spring Awakening, Fela!, Fences and more. More often than not, however, Eurocentric theater companies are predominantly comprised non-black producers and directors. To a very large extent, Black directors are hired onto productions only if it is for a Black play. However, now that works by Black writers are becoming lauded (i.e. August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, Katori Hall), White directors are now requesting to direct these works and getting those jobs (Goff 2013). While African Americans, on occasion, are getting hired to direct, act and manage mainstream Eurocentric theater productions of either Black plays or adaptations, the work ultimately does not serve the Black community. This perpetuates the flight of more Black dollars from Black communities and thereby further affecting the sustainability of the community. As posited earlier in this paper, establishing what the communities’ needs are and meeting those needs means investing into the community. This is integral to the sustaining power of the Black theater.
