theater of change: an interview with broadway advocacy coalition
I’ve always held the opinion that theatre (and the arts at large) has the power to change the world, and the worldview of those who experience it. I was delighted to have recently discovered the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, an organization that has been doing work to do just that since 2016. I had the pleasure of interviewing their team to ask them about the pandemic, and how they are changing the landscape of the theatre industry. Read their responses below.
Can you describe what BAC does, and how it works to help the theatre industry?
Founded in 2016 by members of the Broadway community as a direct response to the nation's pandemic of racism and police brutality, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition is made up of a diverse group of artists, advocates, students, lawyers and directly affected leaders. By combining the power of storytelling with the leadership and experiences of those most directly affected by issues of mass incarceration, systemic racism, and immigration, we've created a new way of collaborating that allows artists like Audra McDonald, Jesse Williams, and Lynn Nottage to work side by side with advocates to change these broken systems.
Since its inception and through its partnership with the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School, it has grown into a multi-disciplinary organization uniting artists with legal experts and community leaders to promote anti-racism and equity in criminal justice, education, and the theater industry.
With its #BwayforBLM Forum last June we began a number of initiatives to support the work of rooting out racism within the theater industry. This has included public forums, the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship to support the next generation of BIPOC leadership, and its upcoming Reimagining Equitable Productions Workshops.
How has BAC responded to the current pandemic and its effect on the industry?
Our primary focus has been about making sure that when we go back to work, everyone is going back to more equitable workplace.
BAC has focused its work on the pandemic of racism brutalizing so many people of color within the theater industry. We have moved all of our programs to the virtual space so as to avoid exposing any of our team or participants to COVID.
A number of our programs support artists during this challenging time including our BAC Artivism Fellowship, the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship and participation in our Theater of Change course at Columbia Law School. We are also working with a number of Broadway shows on finding ways to support artists during this pandemic.
How has BAC adapted its work because of the pandemic?
We have moved all of our programming online and focused several of our projects on the impact of COVID on individuals who are currently or recently incarcerated.
Does BAC have any initiatives/projects that help make theatre more accessible/available to the public at large?
Our work is more focused on creating theater-based pieces that can be used to impact policy and the world at large. Most of that work is created through our Theater of Change course at Columbia Law School. We are interested in how narrative based art and especially theater can be used outside of traditional theaters.
Do you think making theatre more widely available will help with issues facing the industry like diversity and inclusion?
To us, the more important thing is getting more people of color in positions of leadership both creatively and administratively.
Are there any new/exciting initiatives that you’re working on in the coming months that you can tell us about?
1. ARTIVISM FELLOWSHIP
The fellowship was created to support artist-activists using their tools to have an impact on the world around them. The Fellowship will provide financial support, mentorship, networking opportunities and education workshops. The inaugural year (2020) of the Fellowship will specifically support Black women, cisgender and transgender, who are artist-activists focused on issues related to systemic racism and criminal justice reform and using narrative or stories in their work.
2. CRR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Created in partnership with Cody Renard Richard, this scholarship program aims to help Black, Asian, Latinx, and Indigenous theater students reach their full artistic, academic and leadership potential, by providing a direct financial contribution to help ease the burden of the many costs of attending higher educational learning institutions, such as tuition, housing, textbooks and class fees. In the inaugural year, selected recipients will receive a $4,000 scholarship for the Spring 2021 semester.
3. THEATER OF CHANGE
Broadway Advocacy Coalition and Columbia Law School continue their multi-year partnership by offering a semester-long course entitled The Theater of Change: Reimagining Justice through Abolition. The semester will focus on issues of abolition, reimagining justice, and strengthening communities, and will be informed by the expertise of the community leaders with extensive experience both fighting and feeling the effects of these systems. Artists will join forces with law students and community advocates to create performance pieces that envision a path to abolition and strategize how and where these performances can occur to achieve sustainable impact. The course will also build artistic capacity to merge high quality, high impact, rigorous artistry with community narratives, policy analysis, and effective policy advocacy. The goals of this course are not only to facilitate an exchange of ideas across disciplines, but to form lasting partnerships that can continue to generate game-changing work into the future.
How can people support BAC and the work you do?
Here are a few ways to stay involved with BAC immediately:
· Sign up to join our Artist Impact Team, a group of artists who support the broader amplification for arts-based advocacy projects.
· Fill out this survey to help us learn how you would like to work with BAC in the future.
· Follow us on Instagram (@bwayadvocacycoalition) and Twitter (@BwayAdvocacyCo) to stay up to date on all upcoming opportunities
In the wake of the national racial reckoning, there are many organizations involved in leveraging the power of the arts for justice work. BAC is part of a coalition of arts organizations focused on promoting racial equity in the theater industry, and is eager to help connect you to the organizations that match your interests. These organizations include Theater of the Oppressed NYC, Artists Striving to End Poverty, the Justice Arts Coalition, and many others for even more opportunities. Feel free to email us if you would like further information about the range and roles of organizations pursuing equitable theater productions and social change through the arts.
I’d like to thank BAC’s Chief of Staff Dria Brown and the rest of the BAC team for taking the time to answer my questions. Their insight into the industry and the important work they are doing are invaluable to understanding how we can change the theatre industry for the better.