A few thoughts on safety, sexual assault, and my favorite hotel...
Here are a few thoughts I have after reading the recent Buzzfeed article on sexual assault and harassment at Sleep No More.
1) I am not surprised. At all. Not even a little bit. I have been groped in the show by other audience members. It’s a frightening feeling when someone reaches around, touches me, and then disappears into the crowd. It’s happened more than once, and I’ve even had fellow women in the audience witness it and come up to ask me if I’m okay. I have no idea who the people were or how to report the incidents committed by unknown assailants. I say this not to make it about me, but to emphasize the vulnerability of the performers. I’m sure it’s a million times worse for them. The performers are vulnerable in ways the audience never will be.
2) I’ve been hearing about this kind of behavior for years. What took so long? (And why did it take the threat of bad publicity to add a warning to the opening speech about not touching performers?? It should have been done in 2011 when the initial request was made.) This type of groping and grabbing has been happening to male and female performers since the beginning of the show.
3) I have seen audience members walking around without a mask on. Which means either A) a performer pulled it off and they should be immediately taken out of the space, or B) they took it off themselves and it should be assumed that a performer pulled it off and they should be immediately taken out of the space. Clearly there was a breakdown in safety training since I’ve seen this more than once over the years.
4) The following three quotes reveal a very disturbing aspect of management, not just at Sleep No More, but at any job where people are vulnerable to this type of assault. There are many, many, MANY reasons why filing an official complaint is not wise. This can range from past experience, job insecurity, the power differences in work situations, a person’s unwillingness to suffer further humiliation on top of the assault, etc. So–a lack of an official complaint is a pretty lousy reason not to believe someone.
In addition–if there is a clearer example of victim shaming than this third quote, I’m not sure what it is. This seems to imply that not only is the assaulted person at fault for not reporting, but any further safety issues are also their fault. In other words–management is completely innocent and the victim is the problem.
…The Sleep No More representatives said Lincoln never filed a complaint about inappropriate conduct and therefore they didn’t believe she had been groped…
…“Because Bartnik, 39, didn’t report the incident and no other staff witnessed it, the Sleep No More spokesperson said they don’t believe it happened…“
…“If indeed there are some instances where former colleagues failed to report safety issues, then we are very disappointed they endangered themselves and other employees by failing to take the appropriate steps required by our safety rules,” the McKittrick’s management said in a statement…
I hope that this will lead to stricter safety procedures for the show. The bar for banning someone should not be so high. I don’t mean ejecting them from an evening. If someone assaults another person (either a performer or another audience member,) they should be blacklisted. Grabbing parts of the body that are usually covered, even when they are not covered and you’ve paid for a ticket, is not acceptable. Ever. I wish I was more shocked that these people are allowed back into the building, but I’m not. Money talks. And I guess if you spend enough of it there, you are allowed to behave however you wish.
As always – we need to remember that when we are in that space, we are in someone’s work space. Yes, the performers are creating art and entertainment for us to enjoy. But they are also at work. They are not objects or toys to play with, and they are certainly not there to be assaulted. Respect their space and their work. And allow them to take the lead. Follow where they lead you, but don’t push the boundaries. Be bold when looking through the set and choosing which scene to watch. Do not be bold when considering touching someone without their permission.
Performers And Staffers At “Sleep No More” Say Audience Members Have Sexually Assaulted Them
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