Act for Change Project founder Danny Lee Wynter.
Diversity in the theatre, or the lack of it, was at the heart of an intense debate at the National Theatre on Tuesday 2 June 2015, to mark the first anniversary of the much-needed Act for Change Project, reports Joy Francis.
The Olivier Theatre’s 1,150 seating capacity was almost filled and expectations were heightened in the wake of the election of a Conservative, arts-cutting and diversity-averse government.
To drive home the challenges facing actors, writers and directors who are women, disabled or of colour, we heard testimonials littered with racial slights, sexist insults and an intolerance of any form of disability from white producers, casting agents and artistic directors.
Read by actors such as Dona Croll and Daniel York, we listened to the story of a young black male director who was about to have a meeting with an artistic director. When the artistic director came out to see if he had arrived, the black director said “he looked straight through me” despite being the only person in the waiting room. When the artistic director was told who the young black man was, he declared: “Ah, you are a black director.” That was one of the tamer tales.
Rufus Norris, the new artistic director at the National Theatre, didn’t escape scrutiny. Act for Change member and actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith grilled Norris on his commitment to diversity. He revealed that in 2014, there was 33 per cent BAME representation onstage. “It was a golden period in our history,” Norris claimed. “We are aiming for 20 per cent plus in any given year.”
Backstage, the picture is less rosy with 15 per cent of permanent staff from a BAME background. And out of the 16 people on the National Theatre’s board, there are only two – and one is leaving.
A difficult conversation. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Rufus Norris. Photo credits: Young Vic/National Theatre
During the interview Norris made two missteps. One was his view that “we need to reflect the city and the country…and show that the excellence is as good as it could be”, which attracted a unified groan. For many, his statement reminded them of the age old argument that there is a lack of quality talent among BAME artists, a view frequently discredited.
The other was that “we are accountable to ourselves” when it comes to diversity. Holdbrook-Smith disagreed. “You need to be accountable to the people.” Among the people Norris readily admits he needs to be more accountable to are disabled actors. Despite the casting of Kiruna Stamell in his hit play Everyman, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, he conceded: “I have a shit record on disabled casting and it is a reflection of my ignorance in that area.”
This theme of accountability continued with the panel debate chaired by Liberty’s Shami Chakrabarti. Actor Adrian Lester, director Phyllida Lloyd, writer Cush Jumbo, broadcaster and critic Mark Lawson, Jenny Sealey of Graeae Theatre Company and shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant chewed over the question of whether theatres were run by a wealthy elite. Lloyd didn’t beat around the bush. “They don’t miss us [women] if we are not there so we need quotas.”
Adrian Lester said: “In terms of the commercial sector, the theatre is run by a small group of people who are the wealthy elite. But not all theatres are run this way, for example in the regions, but with the new measures and cuts to arts funding, we have to make sure that we theatres aren’t run by a wealthy elite in the future.”
Jumbo drew attention to the need for more “interesting stories to be told” as we “didn’t just come on the Windrush”. She also wasn’t impressed with the false impression of the arts being generated by theatre awards ceremonies.
“I was nominated for an Olivier Award a few years ago. At the ceremony, I was aware that I was one of the only brown faces in the audience and it was the same on stage. What I saw that night was fake and a lie, and didn’t reflect the industry I worked in.”
It’s time for change. Jenny Sealey, Adrian Lester and Cush Jumbo. Photo credits: Disability Now/Curtis Brown
Sealey was clearly fed up, after sitting on “37 different diversity panels” over the years. She admitted she was close to tears and was mightily “pissed off” at disabled actors, directors and playwrights being placed in this position. “Disabled actors can’t even get through the doors to have a career.”
Bryant added: “Outside of London, theatres are reliant on the Arts Council, local authority and private donors for funding as well as ticket sales. I won’t be able to do anything without your help as we lost quite badly in the general election. We all need to hold them to account on diversity.”
Casting was another bugbear. Lawson said he disliked the term “colour blind casting” and worried that having so many costume dramas on BBC and ITV meant actors of colour were being excluded. “BBC and ITV have an obsession with costume drama such as Dickens, Poldark and Wolf Hall,” he claimed, “so there isn’t too much in racial terms for black actors. I have a colleague who argues that the reason costume drama is so popular is that they [white viewers] prefer watching a drama where there are only white characters. I do worry about this, if this is the case.”
Lester felt compelled to give Lawson a history lesson. “Queen Elizabeth I issued an edict saying there were too many ‘Blackamoors’ in the country. Indian nannies and servants were commonplace. Black houseboys and cooks were owned in this country and abroad and you could find them in the ports in London and Wales. We know this is a fact, which is why I get tired of hearing people say that when we have a costume drama, we want to do this realistically.”
Lloyd reminded the audience that British-born playwright and director Kwame Kwei-Armah, who was meant to be part of the panel, is now an artistic director in the US. “We need to get the keys of our theatres into the hands of BAME people. White middle class men need to take on associates and not just mirror images of themselves,” she argued.
So what next? Lester, picking up on the scepticism and frustration among the audience, especially at the lack of time allocated to get their questions answered, stressed: “We shouldn’t leave this event frustrated. We need to gather in groups and embarrass them [arts management] publicly. Write the stories. Keep trying. One person may say yes. Let’s be excellent in ourselves and make the change happen. It’s not over yet.”
The Act for Change Project campaigns for better representation across the live and recorded arts. Launched in 2014 by the actor Danny Lee Wynter, the project believes that the arts are for everyone, regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, age or disability, and they should reflect the societies we live in.
To find out more about the campaign, visit: www.act-for-change.com