What feels deeply disingenuous, however, is celebrating these changes in the dark -- praising them without casting light on the elephant in the opposite corner of the room. We cannot speak of these shifts without keeping both eyes open to the fact that they were made only after amendments to the criteria of granting bodies - criteria that includes an increased emphasis on and commitment to supporting cultural equity.
I wholeheartedly applaud these amendments, as much as I regret their necessity. As theatre is deeply reliant on community, I have long been confounded by the notion of government agencies giving money to arts organizations without affixing to that giving a considerable obligation to reflect the demographic realities of the communities they serve. Theatre should be an exploratory reflection of one’s society, not an ongoing celebration of oneself. It is amusing to watch those who espouse “cultural” inclusion while practicing racial exclusion, checking off the diversity box by showcasing a dozen different strands of European.
If a medium to large Toronto-based company produces countless works which are considered artistic triumphs but do not mirror the most multicultural city in the world, it is, in my view, a creative success but a cultural failure.
There are commendable cases in which inclusion has come with a changing of the guard.
There are others in which it has only come with a changing of the rules.
This is the history of racial inclusion on this continent. Conscious organizations and their leaders set the tone, a bunch of others feign tone-deafness, and finally the latter group is compelled to follow and do what is right not by any sort of principled compunction, but by the promise of their own political or economic disadvantage.
And so we have the present wave of movement by mandate. A tug of the giving leash brings flickers of change. While these flickers will manifest as real artists making real art - which is marvellous - they can lull us into complacency. Flickers can quell our battered and fatigued bid for representation, can spur on a rush to exoneration, and can foster a belief in the presence of actual ideological shifts where they may not truly exist.
The authentic moves always feel different. Always.
To those who do not move in authentic space -- stop playing intelligent, awake people who are far more in touch than you are for fools. It does not become you, and is shockingly transparent.
I acknowledge that in our industry, every season that looks more like the sum of us - rather than some of us - is progress. Pleased am I for the creators of colour involved in this programming, several of whose talents I greatly admire. I look forward to experiencing their art, and hope that great comes of the opportunities they have earned through the calibre of their work.
I will always recognize and appreciate those organizations who practice inclusion as a matter of course, based on an equal and abiding commitment to truth, awareness and decency. There are several and they do no go unnoticed.
What I cannot do is extole all whose hands were tied into such a commitment. What I cannot applaud is those who essentially needed to be forced in order to seek out non-white artistic excellence. I will not pretend that those who displayed no moral imperative to prioritize anything beyond the tokenistic participation of my fellow artists of colour - before such a decision was tied to funding - how miraculously found Jesus.
How quickly the myriad of other hues can come into focus.
How quickly some see black and brown when they really want the green.
TT
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