I’ve been asked if I’m with the catering staff at theater critics events, been chastised by angry ushers to turn my cell phone off, even if I have never taken my device out of my pocket during a performance, and often been asked if I’m sure I belong in the orchestra, as ushers point me to the mezzanine. My skin has become so thickened by the mistreatment and rudeness of theater employees that I might as well be a walking callus. I experience this, in part, because I’m a rarity on Broadway. In the 2017-2018 season, 75% of Broadway audiences were Caucasian, according to statistics compiled by the Broadway League. Theater clearly has a people of color problem: It’s not only that many people of color have no interest in revivals of revered but irrelevant plays featuring beige ensembles, it’s also that when we do come to the theater, we are told that we’re invading white spaces. When I see a show with a white friend, people often ask the friend if they brought me to the show and ask me if it’s my first time at the theater. Every awards season we listen to speeches about the beauty and inclusiveness of the theater community, but people of color know that it’s an illusion. For every Tony Award given to a person of color, dozens of us are denied entry to these temples of love and acceptance.
Opinion: What people of color experience at the theater
Jose Solís is a friend of mine, and some of the discrimination he’s faced as a critic who is also a POC is inexcusable. Theater people like to praise themselves for being more open minded than the rest of the world but it’s some of the same old shit.
I commend Jose for speaking up about this, and would also encourage theater lovers following me to give him a follow on twitter, as Jose gives basically all his reviewer +1s to POC (and others are starting to follow suit).
