"Amy Cooper is Alive and Well in the American Theatre", Writer Details Racist Treatment During Show
Griffin Matthews in ‘Invisible Thread’(Joan Marcus)
Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
“Amy Cooper’s are alive and well in the American theatre,” according to writer Griffin Matthews.
In a video posted on his Facebook page titled, “Broadway is Racist”, Mr. Matthews details the racist treatment he encountered behind the scenes during his musical, Invisible Thread(which was later retitled Witness Uganda).
For clarification Amy Cooper is the white woman who was filmed calling the police on a black man who had simply asked for her to leash her dog in Central Park. She was filmed falsely accusing the man, Christian Cooper, of threatening her life.
Among the incidents Mr. Matthew describes:
Being strong-armed into changing the title of show and forced to exit the role of lead actor and lead writer.
A director saying that an actress in the show doesn’t look “black enough”, which he states is known as the “Paperbag test”, a form of racial discrimination practiced by white America in the 20th century. Whites compared an African-American's skin tone to the color of a brown paper bag.
During a production meeting over a song in the show, a white producer said “slavery is over, no one wants to hear about that.”
Director Diane Paulus with Witness Uganda cocreators Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould. (© Jimmy Ryan)
Mr. Matthews also accused officials at Second Stage Theatre promising to donate to their charity and asking the cast of Invisible Thread to perform at their annual gala for free in order to tell attendees about Second Stage’s “risky endeavors” but never coming through with their donation.
Mr. Matthews co-wrote the show with Matt Gould. It was based on the true story of Matthews' humanitarian trips to Uganda, and his work to fund his nonprofit organization, Uganda Project.
He also goes onto note racist comments by white reviewers of the show.
While he doesn’t mention her by name, the woman who directed the show was Tony-winner Diane Paulus. He also doesn’t mention the producer’s name in the video but the lead producer was Kevin McCollum who produced such shows as RENT and In The Heights.
Referring to this “Amy Cooper”, Mr. Matthews says, “She believes she loves black people. She buys their work, then steals it.”
He finishes by saying, “I may never make it to Broadway for simply speaking out against the horrific treatment I received, but all the Amy Coopers will be fine.”
You can watch the entire video below.