SACRED FOOLS EDI

We need your help. Intimate theatre is in a very precarious place right now.  Recent cuts in governmental funding coupled with the nationwide shutdown due to Covid-19 have already caused many theatres to lose their venues or close outright. Any theatres still standing when things go back to normal will face a new existential threat: AB5.

This well-intentioned bill was created to stop corporations from exploiting the labor laws, to keep them from gaming the system and ultimately from profiting at the expense of their workers. Zero arguments there. The problem, as is too often the case in matters of diversity, is the collateral damage that occurs any time you try to apply a one-size-fits-all solution to a complex problem. In fighting for the little guy, it’s easy to overlook the fact that there is an entire world of even smaller guys beneath.

This world, the world of intimate theatre, provides the only access many artists, especially people of color, have to hone their craft, network with others and ultimately achieve the kind of upward mobility that would otherwise be locked behind a pay wall. This vital, grassroots pipeline will be the victim of collateral damage if we don’t find a way to make our voices heard to the powers that be.

If you are a BIPOC theatre artist in California we want to know how intimate theatre has helped you to advance your entertainment career. If you are a California-based theatre maker of any background we want to know how you’ve used intimate theatre to advance the careers of BIPOC artists in your productions.

This is not the moment in time to impede any avenues of upward mobility available to artists of color.

WE NEED YOU!
What we’re looking for are testimonials about how intimate theatre has directly impacted the upward mobility of BIPOC artists in California. Stories directly from artists of color will have the greatest impact, but if your intimate theatre production was the springboard for a BIPOC artist to achieve bigger and better things, we want to hear from you too.

Please post on Twitter using the following hashtags (#BIPOCAccess #latheatre) and spread the word to others in your circle and get them to do the same.