", not workshop plays to death."

"What else can we do? We artists must stand up and demand that programming in our theatres be more inclusive. We have to insist that the way to attract younger and more diverse audiences is to program work that speaks to an evolving consciousness transformed by technology. We have to look at our communities and engage with them in more meaningful and broader ways. We have to acknowledge that we are not all wired the same and that abstraction, while it may be uncomfortable for some, is home for many.

For the sake of the survival of our art form, we have to find ways to be a part of the global conversation by doing multilingual, multidisciplinary and adventurous work. We need to encourage and support singular voices, not workshop plays to death. We have to stop surveying these works as if creating theatre is like making a good bar of soap, in which the value of the work is based on the number of audience members that like it. We need to create international collaborations that help move us to a more central place in today's global culture.

Most of all, we need leadership in our theatres that truly reflects our communities racially, ethnically and aesthetically. It's a tall order, but the time is now. The future is already here."

From:

At Home with Another Kind of Diversity: Abstraction

By Marissa Chibas

American Theatre/October 2011