By Anna Hansen
Feb. 24, 2021
Edgewood’s Theatre Department held its first diversity panel Feb. 17. The event, a virtual roundtable, was planned and hosted by Alan Lau-Brown, a senior studying theater at Edgewood.
Guests featured on the panel included Laura McMillan, an Edgewood alum who now serves as the education manager at Children’s Theatre of Madison (CTM); Rachel Lynett, a playwright, freelance producer and dramaturg who started the Rachel Lynett Theatre Company; and Jake Penner, an artistic associate at American Players’ Theatre and freelance director. Edgewood faculty members were also featured, including Jeanne Leep, the chair of the theater department as well as a professor of theater and COR; and Beatriz Aguilar, who teaches in the music and COR departments.
Lau-Brown said that as a person of color he was motivated to organize this event because current conversations on racism aren’t going deep enough in terms of productivity to reach solutions.
“Even this past year it feels like we’re still having the simple conversation of what is racism, who are racists, and how do we- just vaguely- how do we not be racist?” Lau-Brown said.
Penner echoed Lau-Brown’s comment:
“I think it’s great that people talk, and I think it’s great that people are maybe gesturing towards a direction but I… am like what can we actually do? What are actual measurable things that we can start to do tomorrow that start to put us in a better position than we’ve been for the last 100 years in this industry?”
Lau-Brown did his senior capstone on promoting playwrights of color in theater.
Lau-Brown said he believes that sharing these stories and giving them a platform is different but the more effective approach.
He added:
“I believe the arts can contribute to more of these race conversations but they just in general aren’t getting that recognition and I think having conversations like these can kind of show different audience members, what can the arts do that we’re not taking advantage of?”
McMillan discussed her work with CTM, specifically the Goodwin Project, in which CTM showcases four short plays written by Idris Goodwin, with educational content to start difficult and necessary conversations about race within households.
“These conversations shouldn’t need to be made as public as they are but unfortunately for the greater community, a lot of people don’t even know,” said McMillan. “It is really frustrating that this art has to be put out there, but I am very humbled to be in a position that I can put it out there for everyone to see.”
McMillan detailed the plot of one show, Water Gun Song, in which a Black mother must tell her son that he cannot play with water guns for fear that he will be perceived as a threat.
“If you come at it from a perspective of explaining why they feel this way or even just, you know, talking about Tamir Rice or anything of that nature, then it really hits home for people to realize that this is serious,” she said.
McMillan stressed the importance of the arts in schools, referring to lack of funding for these programs as a “national issue.”
“Theater and the arts as a whole promote problem solving,” said McMillan. “It absolutely promotes how to present your problems and how to present your info to get it across clearly, and also to integrate new programs and new ideas, that is all encompassed in the arts.”
Lau-Brown mentioned the disparities between playwrights of color and white playwrights. Lynett had a different take.
“There are less playwrights of color getting produced than there are white playwrights,” Lynett said. “If I want to get produced, I have to accept that the audience is probably going to be 80% white.”
Lynett (she/her/they/them) said that they wrote Well-Intentioned White People, which they directed at Edgewood in late 2020, to teach white audiences about microaggressions. Now, they say their feelings about their art have changed.
“I’m tired of the responsibility of Black art and Brown art being to teach white people. I don’t think that should be on us anymore,” said Lynett. “What am I asking actors of color to do just to teach white people a lesson, and is that fair?”
Lynett also said they only want Black people directing their plays, to avoid damages that white directors may inflict upon them through their lack of cultural understanding.
“When there is someone who’s been assaulted why are they the ones that have to teach white people to be better?” Lynett asked.
Aguilar drew on her experience having come from Mexico and working with other faculty who have lived in different countries.
“To really understand a different culture, you have to live it. You have to be as exposed and as inside of it as possible. It’s basically impossible to get any sense of another culture if you’re not there,” she said.
Through her work in Edgewood’s Task Force on Dismantling Racism, Aguilar has worked closely with the Gen Ed Committee to ensure that issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are included.
Leep mentioned her work with planning inclusive theatre programming during the pandemic.
“We very quickly, as a team…put together a list of plays that we thought could serve different social justice issues,” said Leep. “Going forward, it’s obvious that the need for more voices is there. Not just onstage, but playwrights … all the people who create this art form.”
Lau-Brown ended the panel with a brief talkback.
“I do want to have more discussions like this in whatever work I do,” said Lau-Brown.
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