On July 18, Mark Edwards criticized Utah Shakespeare Festival for “committing to societal equity.”
He failed to explain why he objects to equity in programming, casting, and production. I gathered that he thinks USF is only trying to sell tickets, and that equity will not help them. He did express how he doesn’t want “to be hit over the head with a club of guilt wielded from atop a moral high horse for sins [he] did not commit.”
Well, I’m unclear how that would happen if he saw, for example, a Latinx Prince of Denmark, or a production of “Cymbeline” with sets and lights designed by women.
A hidden assumption lives in Edwards’ criticism: that female, gay, trans, and BIPOC artists are obsessed with politics. That they want nothing more than to interpret “The Merchant of Venice” through the lens of 1619. As someone who works in theatre, I can assure him: there are nonwhite artists who like comedy, mystery, and toe-tapping musicals.
Meritocracy can be balanced with equity in theatre. Strict adherence to meritocracy can have negative consequences, actually. Great actors can be assholes. Every artistic effort can benefit from a diversity of perspectives. Every company can too.
Matthew Ivan Bennett, resident playwright, Plan-B Theatre