Official Statement from
The Colonial Players Board of Directors
regarding Racial Injustice

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.”

To Our Members, Patrons, and Community,

There are issues that transcend policies, practices, and maintaining precedent, and when faced with these very real and very pressing issues there is no excuse for silence. It is easy to offer an excuse in asking for patience, but we recognize and acknowledge that a mistake has been made by our Organization in not speaking out sooner, and that similar missteps have been made in the past. For that we truly apologize. Time and Voice are both privileges, and we must acknowledge that we should have used those privileges to speak out already.

Black Lives Matter. We want to make it unequivocally clear that The Colonial Players condemns racism, and stands with the Black Community, Indigenous Community, and People of Color (collectively BIPOC). The systemic racism that permeates our country is not new, nor is the tendency for those in positions of power, privilege, and comfort to be unwilling to speak up to put an end to this injustice. For a start, what we can do now is assure our community that we will no longer be silent. We raise our voice now to make that commitment to every volunteer, patron, and member who has ever given us their support.

The gift of theater, of creating art, is ancient and universal, and above all it is Human. No one should ever feel as though they do not have a safe space within this community. We seek to offer a theater community where everyone, especially artists from marginalized groups, feels that their art is valued, supported, and uplifted. To that end, we know that going forward we must do better not just in word but in deed. The Colonial Players seeks to offer concrete change in order to support the diverse community that we are honored to serve.

We will start with the following:

• We commit to forming a Community Outreach Team that is focused on listening to underrepresented voices, and expanding diversity within our theater community.
• We commit to producing more plays that provide robust roles for BIPOC artists, and highlight the stories of underrepresented communities.
• We commit to reviewing our institutional practices, including our current method of selecting plays and directors.
• We commit to providing support to community members who are protesting racial injustice. We will be connecting with local leaders within the movement to determine what support is needed, and what we can provide.

Lastly, we want to recognize all the volunteers, members, and patrons who have demanded better of us. We are accountable to the community we serve, and for those whose trust we have lost, we hope to earn it back with our actions as we move forward.

Signed,

The Colonial Players Board of Directors