Recently film and TV studios have been hopping on the diversity bandwagon, but Chicago has been the hub of theatrical diversity for far longer than it’s recent resurgence in the media. The Chicago theater scene is raved for being diverse and inclusive, but this idea of Chicago theater as diverse comes from smaller storefront theaters like Albany Park Theater Project, while bigger theaters like The Goodman use tokenism, work with complete all white or all minority casts, or split directly down the middle and have half and half.
Albany Park Theater Project is a theater performance group located in a very diverse part of Chicago. While looking through their website, I found their mission statement which states, “We are Albany Park Theater Project, a multiethnic, youth theater ensemble that inspires people to envision a more just and beautiful world. We are dedicated to art, to youth, and a vision of social justice” (Albany Park Theater Project). The term social justice is a very vague term and, in my opinion, when it comes to theatre, a vision of social justice would include diversity in the cast and in the works that are put on. Albany Park Theater Project, through their website, blog, youtube channel, and other reviews, has shown a wide variety of these elements as evidence to back up the claims made in their mission statement.
When you look up the word diversity, “the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization” (“Diversity”) is what appears. A diverse show is one that includes more than just one token ethnic character or simply one ethnic group, but incorporates multiple types of people to show a world that reflects our own. The Washington Post posted an article that tackles the growing diversity in television and points out how the main character in a show called Master of None “lives in a city that looks like New York — and not the surreal white New York of ‘Friends,’ or the equally surreal black New York of ‘The Cosby Show,’ or the diverse but crime-ridden New York of ‘Law & Order: SVU.’ Instead, it’s the real one, or at least the comfortably middle-class real one, where people work with, befriend and date people of all stripes” (Ramanathan). The audience watched “Friends” and loved it because the classic TV show was entertaining, but looked past the fact that it has an all white, reoccurring, cast. The same goes for the other two shows mentioned, but the problem with “Friends” and “The Cosby Show” is that they went too far towards either end of the diversity spectrum. “Law & Order: SVU,” included diversity, but showed the stereotypical views of each ethnic group which did more to discourage inclusion towards people of different ethnic backgrounds rather than encourage it. The idea of true diversity is inclusive of everyone and does not simply show tokenism or stereotypes in an attempt to be “diverse.”
When looking through Albany Park Theater Project’s website, the first thing I went to was their mission statement page. On that page was a short video that showed clips from their 2013 production of “Home/ Land” at the Goodman Theater, which show kids of different ethnicities discussing difficult topics like immigration, parents being taken away from their kids, and mass shootings of minorities. From that video alone, I see that their mission statement as a company has not simply changed given recent issues along the same line, but see that they have valued inclusivity and the sharing of stories long before illegal immigration came into the public light. Not only do they have diversity among their cast, but the works that they put on are written and told by people who have experienced the injustices occurring in the play. In fact, a faculty member Isaac Gomez, who works at The Theatre School, has written plays for Albany Park. On their blog, their most recent post is about the play “Ofrenda” written by Isaac Gomez and directed by Stephanie Paul and Maggie Popadiak. I that a photo of the cast (shown above) is the largest photo on the page, which includes a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds. Albany Park’s mission statement emphasized “a multiethnic, youth theater ensemble that inspires people to envision a more just and beautiful world” (Albany Park Theater Project), this photo supports their claims of a multiethnic and youth ensemble. When I started looking into the themes of “Ofrenda” to see if it encourages telling stories that aren’t often told, I found a description in a Chicago Tribune article written by Kerry Reid titled “‘Ofrenda’: Themes of ‘home’ and ‘offering’ get the distinctive Albany Park Theatre treatment”. Reid describes “Ofrenda” as “a wide array of stories generated within the ensemble and collected in the community, collaborated with an outside playwright… The voices we meet in this narrative collage feel distinct, not filtered through a sole authorial voice” (Reid). The stories the communities and cast members tell are not often heard, and through Albany Park Theater Project actors and community members can share important stories that can inspire audiences to “envision a more just and beautiful world” (Albany Park Theater Project).
Albany Park Theater Project saw a need for diversity in theater culture in their area and a need to share stories theatre goers might not be exposed to. They make ethical and emotional appeals to readers to garner support their mission. Through this company they have been able to provide a safe space for youths of all ethnicities and backgrounds to come together and let their voices and stories be heard. Alumni from Albany Park Theater Project have often gone off to be public speakers and actors supporting the same idea of spreading important stories that would otherwise go unheard.
The Goodman Theater is Chicago’s oldest theater and began as a professional theater in 1925. Due to The Great Depression, maintaining a professional theater became too expensive and the Goodman Theater became the Goodman School of Drama. Slowly professional actors came back as guest artists and adjunct teachers and by 1969 the Goodman returned to its professional theatre title while also keeping the Goodman School of Drama. With this return to professionalism, the student actors began children’s theater productions that “played to large audiences for half a century and helped generations of Chicagoans become lifelong theatregoers” (Gray 217) Most theaters don’t last more than 7 years, it is remarkable that the Gooman has lasted almost 100 years to date and had such an impact on the theater scene in Chicago. Goodman set the stage for other theater companies to follow and encourage programs for youth actors and work with what the audience expressed interest in. The Goodman Theatre’s mission statement was longer than most and included mentions of multiple awards, once you got through all that you get to their real mission, “By dedicating itself to three guiding principles—quality, diversity and community—Goodman Theatre seeks to be the premier cultural organization in Chicago, providing productions and programs that make an essential contribution to the quality of life in our city” (Goodman Theatre). Contrary to Albany Park’s mission statement, the Goodman Theatre’s statement is specific in it’s goals. Despite including diversity in their statement, it is not something they advertise nor stick to in reality.
When going through the Goodman Theatre’s website some key differences between their’s and Albany Park’s websites is the lack of photo advertisement and lack of diversity within those photos. A fact sheet under the “Financials” tab on the “About” page has a breakdown of Goodman’s three guiding principles. The description of “diversity” states, “We are committed to making cultural diversity, aesthetic range, risk-taking and freedom of expression the fabric of the institution” (Goodman Theatre). When looking at the website, the first thing seen is images of the four upcoming shows, two of which include actual photos of actors where only one of the three actors shown is a woman of color. (Shown right) All other pictures on the websites opening page are graphically designed photos showing none of the people working on the projects or events advertised. Goodman appears to use tokenism as a smokescreen for being diverse. Tokenism is “the policy or practice of making only a symbolic effort (as to desegregate)” (Tokenism) or the practice of making only a symbolic effort to be inclusive toward people of minority groups, and in terms of theater, by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial or sexual equality within the company. Their claim to aesthetic range as a “fabric of the institution” (Goodman Theatre) is a false claim and is tokenism not diversity. Continuing through the tabs along the top bar, all the photos that are shown are a majority white people with a few people of color or different ethnicities mixed in. It also appears that the photos are snapshots from different shows or events rather than for example women in a meeting shown for the “Women’s Board” link. From what is seen on their website there is not much follow through on their diversity statement. Further down on the fact sheet are statistics about their patrons, “According to audience surveys, patrons are, overall, about 19% people of color, while single ticket purchasers are about 26% people of color” (Goodman Theatre). Not only is their website not inclusive and representative, but the audiences who attend their shows are not reflected through this lack of representation.
When an outsider thinks of Chicago theater, their mind goes to the big name companies like Goodman, Steppenwolf, etc. and they view them as inclusive and the base of Chicago’s diverse theater scene. In reality it is the smaller companies such as Albany Park, Free Street, and more that are the true heart of Chicago’s inclusive and all-encompassing theater atmosphere. Bigger theater’s such as the Goodman use tokenism in an attempt to appear diverse and keep their more liberal patrons. While truly diverse theater’s such as Albany Park Theater Project cater to the other 64% of patrons not attending larger company productions.
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