Accountable Spaces: A DEIAIA Endeavor

DEIA(IA) - diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, intersectionality, and accountability

So, in 2020, I wrote a piece for the Sappho Project, where I discussed why I don’t believe in “safe” or “safer” spaces and how I think “accountable” spaces with DEIAIA principles are better because:

“It lets the room know that they can say what they need to say but that they will be called in to be accountable to their actions and statements, now and in the future…it says from the jump, “you can speak your mind; your emotions and ideas are valid, in terms of the context of you were raised and environments you were exposed to but you must and will be held accountable to the people…in the space and in those communities…”

So, I’d like to discuss how to build an accountable space in musical theatre, using examples from my own life.

I have produced at places like The Green Room 42, the REACH at the Kennedy Center, and Caveat in NYC. I have hired actors, musicians, music directors, stage directors, and other collaborators for all these events related to the show.

Recently, I did a developmental reading of my show. In my emails and posts about the show for hiring and casting, I made it clear what kind of diverse characters are in the show; what I was open to casting and including for each character; a brief description of the show so they’d know what the “ask” was; the equitable minimum they would be paid;  based on how many rehearsals there were for their character; and what I expected in the room, in terms of acceptance of identities, opinions within the show, and how triggering the material could be potentially. I also communicated my openness to chronically ill or disabled casting while indicating which characters had to have certain actions available to them.

While that sounds standard, many casting notices have alienating language like:

*Male-Identifying/Female-Identifying and Men and Women that perpetrate as if they are including trans people. However, trans women aren’t “female-identifying”; they’re women. Trans men aren’t “male-identifying”, they are men. Openly naming how you are open to trans, cis, and or gender expansive casting avoids reducing people to actual or perceived genitalia, which is weird at best and damaging to the rights, mental health, and self-determination of trans, cis, and gender expansive folks at worst.

*”BIPOC/the Global Majority” and or racialized euphemisms, when you mean something specific. For instance, if you want a Black person, say that. There are Black people who aren’t “sassy” nor do they “keep it real”, and they are people of other races and ethnicities that “opinionated in a self-confident way”  or are “truthtellers”. If you are truly open to any race for a character, that’s fine, but mindful casting is more important than being “colorblind” when casting. Often, when “colorblind casting, one ends up seeing the world as all White with spots “of Color” for show. For example, casting Black men as violent villains, Asian women as submissive and sexual secondary characters, and Asian men as less masculine and passive perpetuates damaging stereotypes, especially without explaining where those stereotypes come from nor offering the characters nuance, context, and depth.

*Asking people to do really potentially uncomfortable acting (nudity, rape scenes, violence of any kind, etc.) is a lot to handle, and people should know about these actions from the jump; be as fairly well compensated as the show and production allows; and know what measures are being taken to support the people in the show (intimacy and fight coordinators, closed rehearsals, closed readings, etc.).

As I’ve said before, “everyone messes up, and perfection is unattainable. However, our best can always be improved upon, and accountability and change can be made a continuous priority.”

So, when I had music rehearsals for the show with the music director and the actors I casted, I insisted on open communication: if you need something to be able to do the work – and I haven’t already provided it - I will do my best to provide it or find a suitable accommodation.

I did constant check-ins about in-room needs and out-of-room needs as well as checking in with everyone before, during, and after rehearsals as they or I needed. The music recordings didn’t match the sheet music; I had to help teach the songs as I wanted them with the music director; and  the rehearsal schedule changed, due to actors’ schedules changing last-minute so – honestly – I would get very frustrated with the process. That led to others being frustrated, and it was my job to mitigate harm as the lead producer for this reading. However, because I had set the standard of open communication, I was honest about when I was frustrated, tried to effectively communicate why I was frustrated (if it was something in the room versus out of it), and I apologized for any and all outbursts and even brought in a musical theatre composer friend to help me manage myself and the room sometimes.

I also didn’t realized I inadvertently used cis normative voicing as the blueprint for the music and had the actors singing across 2-3 octaves within the show. Even as I was very open to octave and key changes, as well as a jazz-focused approach to sing the solo parts, I didn’t realize I had done that until we were in the room. It caused some frustration on the part of the actors, and I had several check-ins with a few of them to confirm to them that:

1)        They were casted for a reason. They are talented and capable, and I have to create multiple singing tracks for trans and cis actors. It was a limitation on my part and not theirs.

2)        They weren’t ruining my music nor script: they were pointing out the limitations that I hadn’t considered because I hadn’t heard the whole show before with anyone’s voice but mine. I had 3 octaves and a vision, but not everyone feels comfortable accessing all their voice within one performance/show, and vocal health must be a priority as well.

At the reading itself, I made sure that no one wore white, as I am not paying them enough (yet) to access the physical or material triggers of being in a mental health ward (the environment for the vast majority of the show), and I instructed everyone to wear gender affirming clothes for their character using clothes from their closet (while making suggestions on color scheme) so there wouldn’t be added financial burden.

After the excellent response to the wonderful performances at the reading, I paid everyone their minimum within 2 weeks (as I recall) and, within a month and a half, paid all actors, musicians, and the music director extra since the government wanted less taxes on my grant than I had originally budgeted. I even paid a small stipend to the stage manager who helped me initially but had to drop out, for their own reasons.

I can’t really speak for anyone but myself, but someone at a local theater - who has worked with me before when I’ve tried to make accountable spaces in musical theatre - had this to say:

“…I got the opportunity to work with Artemis as a guest artist and collaborator. While there were some challenges…, Artemis was never one of them, and they responded to those challenges with grace and gentle-yet-firm accountability, which is exactly what I want in a colleague.”

I can’t be perfect at this, and I will not be the ideal collaborator for everyone, especially those who are transphobic, unaccountable, or not aligned to the principles of DEIAIA. In fact, some experiences have led me and certain folks to not want to work together anymore, which I will write about in next week’s piece about accountable spaces, community building outside the musical theatre space, and how not everyone is your community. However, I strive to keep to my principles, especially as I gain more institutional support and community, and include them still in the actions I take towards a better society. I hope you will with yours too.

Specific beliefs and opinions of mine may change as we learn and unlearn, but I will always be on the freedom side.

I believe in you, in me, in us. Let’s do this.

-Artemis

 ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.