Artists are manipulators of culture. We lift a mirror up to reflect the past and the present even as we dream of futures and alternative presents. Most of the time our work is glacial, as reflective of culture as it is proactive in shaping it, but in other moments our work are the bolts of lighting around which change can coalesce.

All of that means that we are responsible for our culture, responsible for the images, ideas we place onstage. On top of that, as a director I am responsible for the culture of each room in which I work.

I say all of this because I want to acknowledge the realities that our culture is systemically biased on the basis of class, gender, and race. I have been a direct participant in that system and it has benefited me in both obvious and subtle ways. My voice has been lifted up at the expense of other voices.

I have been working both personally and as a part of an institution to take the time and space to examine my role in our industry and our culture.  As a citizen and an artistic leader, I believe that it is incumbent upon me to use whatever position and power I have to protect those colleagues in my care, to lift up their voices, and to expand our audiences’ experiences and empathy.  

• I am committed to being anti-racist in both practice and product. This is a process, one that will require daily work for the rest of my life.  

• I am committed to expand the range of voices that I am supporting and consuming. This includes making sure that my collaborators represent the full range of cultural and racial experiences, that their voices are heard.

• I am committed to listening more to my collaborators and communities. I will hold myself, my colleagues, and our institutions accountable for their actions in the past, the present, and the future.  

I am embracing these commitments with joy and gratitude because they are just and moral and because they will make our institutions, our the work, and our community stronger.  

The world is a terrifying place, cruel and unfair by both nature and design, but as artists we have the ability to both dream and share our dreams. I choose to place my hope in that potential, in the dreams of the artists around me and their ability to make the world just a little bit better.