San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
‘We chose to lean into the wind’
SAM WOODHOUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE
In the late spring of 2020, the perfect storm hit our country and the San Diego Rep family: an unpredictable and deadly pandemic; a ferocious call for racial equity and justice on the streets of America; and a lockdown that led to the loss of 80 percent of our ticket income.
This trio of reckonings threatened our ability to make the art that defines us.
We faced a choice: We could stop producing art, lay off our artists and staff, become silent, and wait; or we could respond to the storm by leaning into the fierce winds, produce theater and address the calls for social justice.
We chose to lean into the wind. We committed to keeping our artists and staff working. Since March, we have produced a robust and fully mission-driven range of online programming — most made by our resident artists. And we devoted an intense and thoughtful three months of thinking toward the creation of a bold and far-reaching Strategic Action Plan that sets out to radically transform the culture of our theater to be more equitable, diverse and inclusive.
Still, every day I ask myself: “How do we keep moving forward in 2021?”
First, we must survive this pandemic. We need theater lovers to help us do this. The inability to perform live and gather in person in the theater has removed nearly 50 percent of our total income. Now, more than ever, gifts from those who believe in the power of theater to uplift and enlighten are essential to our survival.
Secondly, we must commit to radical inclusivity both on and off our stages. The virtuosity of the artists who will create our future, both online and in live performances, must be nurtured and cherished. Their work can expand our sightlines, challenge perspectives, lift spirits, open our hearts and help us get to a higher ground of experience.
I am proud of what our efforts toward inclusion have already accomplished. For the past 10 years, more than 50 percent of the actors on our stages have been actors of color and more than 50 percent of the playwrights we have produced are women. Last May, we commissioned five plays from writers who are Filipino American, Native American, Queer Asian American and African American. Now, 42 percent of our Board of Trustees are people of color. We just promoted three members of our staff so that our artistic leadership team is now more than 50 percent Black, Indigenous, people of color and women. We are excited by how much more work we have to do.
Our new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Action Plan aims to take giant steps forward (you can read the full plan at sdrep.org/action). The plan’s guiding principle is to reach and sustain over 50 percent representation by Black, Indigenous and people of color in all areas of our company: writers, actors, designers, Board of Trustees, staff and collaborators. We will seek out and welcome new voices to the many tables of our company, invite new ways of seeing and listen closely to what we hear. We will transform San Diego Rep into a truly equitable, fully inclusive, expansively diverse, anti-racist organization.
I pray that when we circle up again, the colors and voices of the new circle will look and sound like America today. I promise that artistic virtuosity and joyous diversity will f lourish on the stages of San Diego Rep. And I wish for us all the realization of a new American culture — where equity and justice reign.