Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

In the past week, there has been a newfound call to arms for theatres across the globe to make their stages more diverse when they resume operations. I love that and it’s something I’ve been arguing for years.

However, not every community theatre can do this. Not every community is diverse enough or has the talent pool to produce heavily diverse shows. These theatres have the best intentions of wanting to diversify their seasons, but if performers of color don’t walk through their doors, how can they?

I understand that. Telling these stories needs to be done correctly. If the goal is to truly showcase the talents and stories of black artists and other performers of color, then theares must take the proper steps to tell those stories and not counteract them.

Over the years, largely due to the content on this blog, I’ve been asked by dozens of community theatres in non-diverse areas and non-diverse community theatres for advice on how to produce more shows with diverse casts. It’s not an easy process but it can be done.

In Part 1 last week, I discussed the ways you can start to attract more BIPOC’s (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) through your doors. Today, I want to give some suggestions on what shows to produce.

Part 2 - Selecting a Diverse Season When You’re a Non-Diverse Theatre

As I briefly mentioned in part 1, DO NOT kick off your commitment to diversity by doing a show that requires a lot of BIPOC talent, if they aren’t in your talent pool. They aren’t looking for some sort of “Bat-signal” to flock to, especially if your theatre traditionally hasn’t done a lot of diverse shows.

The licensing fees for some of these shows are expensive. So purchasing the rights to do Hairspray and then not having Black performers audition for you, is going to be a nightmare situation to try to figure out which previously has led to issues of blackface and whitewashing, which we all can agree should never happen.

The other thing to think about if what types of roles these BIPOC people should be playing. Not for nothing but if you’re committed to diversity and think that producing You Can’t Take it With You does that, I’m not sure having the only two black performers play house workers is the best way to showcase black talent.

So what shows should you be doing if you’re looking to introduce more diversity into your season but don’t have big diverse numbers? Also, in the cases of areas with literally no diversity at all(Yes, these places do exist, I’ve been to Montana), what shows convey the same messages of accepting one’s differences without requiring diverse talent? I applaud any theatre wanting to produce shows with these themes for their communities?

I’m going to give you some suggestions. First, I’m going to give you musicals and plays that require little diversity and then the same but for shows that don’t require BIPOC performers but promote positive messages of acceptance. Not only that, but I feel these are strong roles for BIPOC talent that aren’t simply being used as window dressing.

On a side note - I would also encourage you to think about casting BIPOC talent in roles traditionally thought of as white but can actually be played by any race (i.e. Roxie Hart, Pippin, Belle)

Shows to produce with a Small number of Diverse Roles

Musicals:

Avenue Q

Description: The laugh-out-loud musical tells the timeless story of a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a shabby New York apartment all the way out on Avenue Q. He soon discovers that, although the residents seem nice, it's clear that this is not your ordinary neighborhood. Together, Princeton and his new-found friends struggle to find jobs, dates, and their ever-elusive purpose in life. Filled with gut-busting humor and a delightfully catchy score, not to mention puppets, Avenue Q is a truly unique show that has quickly become a favorite for audiences everywhere. Although the show addresses humorous adult issues, it is similar to a beloved children's show; a place where puppets are friends, Monsters are good and life lessons are learned.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Asian Woman, 1 Black Woman

Disaster!

Description: It's 1979, and New York's hottest A-listers are lining up for the opening of a floating casino and discotheque. Also attending is a faded disco star, a sexy nightclub singer with her eleven-year-old twins, a disaster expert, a feminist reporter, an older couple with a secret, a pair of young guys who are looking for ladies, an untrustworthy businessman and a nun with a gambling addiction. What begins as a night of boogie fever quickly changes to panic as the ship succumbs to multiple disasters, such as earthquakes, tidal waves, and infernos. As the night turns into day, everyone struggles to survive and, quite possibly, repair the love that they've lost... or at least escape the killer rats.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Black woman

RENT

Description: Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with his former friends. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, feels like an outsider to life in general. How these young bohemians negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking musical.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 2 Black men, 1 Black woman, 1 Latino(All Gender Identities), 1 Latina woman

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Description: An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Asian woman, 1 Black man

Violet

Description: As a girl, Violet was struck by a wayward axe blade when her father was chopping wood, leaving her with a visible scar across her face. With enough money finally saved she's traveling across the Deep South in 1964 towards a miracle –the healing touch of a TV evangelist who will make her beautiful. Although she may not succeed in having the scar on her face healed, Violet is able to repair those scars that are lying deeper than her skin. On the way, she meets a young, African-American soldier whose love for her reaches far past her physical "imperfections.”

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Black Man, 1 Black Woman

Plays:

26 Miles

Olivia has been estranged from her Cuban-American mother for eight years, involuntarily torn apart by a nasty custody dispute. When she finds herself alone, scared and violently throwing up, she calls her mother who impetuously kidnaps the 15 yr old and takes her on a road trip to Yellowstone. In the process, we get to know this beautiful and broken family and the ways each of them has been loved and wounded.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1-2 Latina Women, 1 Latino Male

Six Degrees of Separation

Description: Inspired by a true story, the play follows the trail of a young black con man, Paul, who insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy New York couple, Ouisa and Flan Kittredge, claiming he knows their son at college. Paul tells them he is the son of actor Sidney Poitier, and that he has just been mugged and all his money is gone. Captivated by Paul’s intelligence and his fascinating conversation (and the possibility of appearing in a new Sidney Poitier movie), the Kittredges invite him to stay overnight. But in the morning they discover him in bed with a young male hustler from the streets, and the picture begins to change. After kicking him out, Ouisa and Flan discover that friends of theirs have had a similar run-in with the brash con artist. Intrigued, they turn detective and piece together the connections that gave Paul access to their lives. Meanwhile, Paul’s cons unexpectedly lead him into darker territory and his lies begin to catch up with him. As the final events of the play unfold Ouisa suddenly finds herself caring for Paul, feeling that he gave them far more than he took and that her once idyllic life was not what it seemed to be.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Black man

November

Description: David Mamet's Oval Office satire depicts one day in the life of a beleaguered American commander-in-chief. It's November in a Presidential election year, and incumbent Charles Smith's chances for reelection are looking grim. Approval ratings are down, his money's running out, and nuclear war might be imminent. Though his staff has thrown in the towel and his wife has begun to prepare for her post-White House life, Chuck isn't ready to give up just yet. Amidst the biggest fight of his political career, the President has to find time to pardon a couple of turkeys - saving them from the slaughter before Thanksgiving - and this simple PR event inspires Smith to risk it all in an attempt to win back public support. With Mamet's characteristic no-holds-barred style, 'November' is a scathingly hilarious take on the state of America today and the lengths to which people will go to win.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Native American man

Topdog/Underdog

Description: A darkly comic fable of brotherly love and family identity is Suzan-Lori Parks’ latest riff on the way we are defined by history. The play tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Haunted by the past, the brothers are forced to confront the shattering reality of their future.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 2 Black men

The Clean House

Description: The Clean House is a comic drama that mixes fantasy and reality as it tells the story of five disparate characters. Throughout the play, characters address the audience to talk about themselves or imagine situations involving the other characters. The story begins as Lane, a doctor in her early fifties, hires a Brazilian woman named Matilde to be her live-in maid. As Matilde and Lane try to negotiate their working relationship, Matilde dreams of her deceased parents and tries to think of the perfect joke. Soon, Matilde meets Lane’s sister, Virginia, a neat-freak who is married but has no children.

Minimum BIPOC Casting - 1 Latina woman

Now that we’ve rattled through those. Let’s say you want to do shows that convey messages of acceptance that don’t require any diversity among the cast. These shows do exist. Musicals like Shrek, Seussical, and Honk! are great ideas. Plays like Angels in America, Stop Kiss, and The Laramie Project would be at the top of my list.

Once again, I will applaud anyone who wants to make it their theatre’s mission to become more diverse. But what needs to be understood is that it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and due diligence but it can happen.

How Can Non-Diverse Community Theatres Become More Diverse - Pt 2