ANTI-RACISM & ACCOUNTABILITY

March 22, 2021

In May of 2017, a group of recent Syracuse graduates met at a coffee shop in Hell’s Kitchen with a purpose: start a company that provides an artistic playground to young artists, a place for our colleagues to produce theatre, take risks, and make mistakes. The colleagues we’d gathered together, though, all came from expensive conservatory-style training, lives of privilege, and had an overwhelming proximity to whiteness. Because of this privilege, we had access to an amazing set of resources - skills from our university, mentors who guided us, and family members who donated. Our path was paved for us. 

And in the process of building an organization and producing our own work, we never had to face the racism that we were reinforcing and from which we were benefiting. While we launched an organization with good intentions, with a desire to engage a diverse group of artists and audiences, we failed to serve or center black, indigenous and people of color in our work. In our first three years, we programmed writers who were 91.6% white, created a board that was 85.7% white, with actors and directors who were 68% white. With each passing season, we produced more theatre and collaborated with more artists; but the races of those writers and artists were completely overlooked. With each step, we were ignorant, inequitable, and benefiting from white supremacy. And the collateral damage we created went unacknowledged. 

If the spaces we have created have caused you harm, we hope you’ll help us hold ourselves accountable by keeping us aware of our misgivings.

Please use this form or contact any member of our staff to express yourself so we can learn and strive to serve our community better.


In the spring of 2020, we paused all of our programming, in person and virtual. Part of this decision was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it impossible to come together safely. But part of the decision to cease all work came when we were faced with the truth of the racism in the American theatre. Following the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, a number of BIPOC theatre artists sparked a revolution to expose the racial inequities in our industry. The artists who spoke out, along with those who contributed to “We See You White American Theatre” opened our eyes to the lie we were living - the oppression we, as a white institution, have sustained. This revolution, this reckoning in the American theatre, can be credited to BIPOC leaders who paved the way to this moment along with the artists mentioned above who gifted us with the truth. 

We, as the staff of Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective, proclaim here today that we acknowledge and hold ourselves accountable for our founding and history, along with the pain we caused along the way. 

This letter stands as a declaration of our refocusing, our refounding, and a realignment of values. 

EQUITY

We assert that the performing arts industry functions within oppressive frameworks, most notably white supremacy, misogyny, and ableism. Since these systems exist, we assert that it is our responsibility to help dismantle these oppressive systems and redistribute power within our industry, and society more broadly. For us, this means committing to:

  • Programming historically marginalized voices, and empowering lead artists to have their vision realized. 

  • Assembling staff, board, leadership, and production teams that are composed of more than 50% BIPOC artists. 

  • Resisting hierarchical organizational practices by distributing responsibility equitably and operating via universal consent.

  • Removing financial barriers from audiences.

  • Centering accessibility as a value when envisioning performances, rehearsals, and any event planning.

  • Paying all collaborators an equitable wage for their labor.

  • Making land acknowledgements any time we gather, embark on new production processes, or open productions.

TRANSPARENCY

To build trust, and enable our collaborators, as well as our audiences to hold us accountable, we commit to making radical transparency the standard. This starts with: 

  • Sharing project budgets with casts and creatives in order to destigmatize conversations about resources, visualize labor, and to align monetary resources to our values. Budgets will be distributed via email, in person, and will be easily accessible online. 

  • Analyzing and reflecting on inequitable hiring and programming practices from the past.

  • Acknowledging past harm and creating a channel whereby collaborators are heard, leaders are easily accessible, and harm is addressed.

  • Including all staff members in hiring and casting practices.

  • Conducting an annual audit of our hiring practices that will be shared publicly. 


COMMUNITY

We assert that the American theater has belonged to a narrow, privileged sector of society that centers European history and values. We commit to serving and developing a more diverse community that reflects the global majority population. For us, that means:

  • Ensuring that our work addresses the issues in our community, and continues even after the closing of our productions. 

  • Thoughtfully supporting and partnering with theatres, non-profits, vendors, community organizations etc. who share the values of our organization. 

  • Establishing wider and more specific marketing strategies that centers & considers a non-white audience experience from production to production.  

  • Remaining mindful of and resisting ongoing processes of gentrification and colonization in our local communities.


This statement is just the beginning of our ongoing efforts to dismantle the aspects of our organization that are rooted in white supremacy. Understanding that this is a never-ending process, we will continue writing updates that we’ll share with you along the way. 

Thank you for your constant support as we strive to make this organization, this industry, and this world a safe and more equitable place.