PAY them for their time if they are interested in hearing from them how things can be made better.. Most of all they MUST DO BETTER. They are supported by public funding and so they need to be better at serving ALL communities.
11/11
They MUST weed out the hostility black people face when entering their buildings. They MUST actively reassess the lack of support and engagement with black artists in the region. They must LISTEN to black people about their negative experience of their organisations & 10/11
Both of these venues have a long way to go in terms of becoming actively ANTI RACIST. They must STOP participating in diversity hires as smokescreens to divert from whiteness of their buildings. They must QUIT their fake allyship. 9/11
When challenged on the lack of diversity within the chosen companies, it is my understanding that a person of colour was then chosen to act as a figurehead for each group. This is not diversity, it is a diversion! 8/11
@DerbyTheatre's new initiative, Derby CAN, has pulled together a group of white led theatre & production companies to work on a project aimed at connecting with local communities. 7/11
It has been brought to my attention that both these venues have been practising some pretty disturbing behaviours when addressing the racial inequality in their buildings. 6/11
@DerbyTheatre also in the region, is a venue that I have worked with once maybe twice & like my experience at @NottmPlayhouse wasn’t somewhere I felt welcome. 5/11
I last worked @NottmPlayhouse running a @TalawaTheatreCo project & it’s fair to say that it was a pretty unpleasant experience. There was a total lack of support, care & enthusiasm & for a project they were partnering on their presence was virtually none existent! 4/11
I usually keep quiet because I’m a black, working class artist. I need to work to eat so I’m not trying to get cancelled. So I usually suck it up and push it down. However, today that has to stop. 2/11
I am from the East Midlands, Nottingham in fact. Yet the only real support I have ever received in this region is from @SubaDasDirects when he worked @CurveLeicester or @newartexchange. 3/11