The Purple Rose Theatre Company is taking actionable steps to provide and increase opportunities for marginalized artists and theatre makers. We are working with our staff, artists and patrons to create, live, and behave in ways that will respect and represent the wide diversity of souls who call the Midwest home.
The Purple Rose Theatre cares about the well-being of our artists, staff, patrons, and volunteers and is committed to diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism. We can do more. And we are.
The plan includes key components that we want to share with you:
We have already accomplished our first goal. We have updated a policy that calls for no tolerance for racial discrimination or harassment. This policy will be clearly communicated to all staff, actors, designers, independent contractors, and volunteers.
A second goal, which is ongoing, is to commission and develop new plays written by BIPOC/Latinx artists for possible production at The Purple Rose.
We have created a three-year budget in place to accomplish this goal (2020-2023).
We are pleased that respected director and actor Lynch Travis has agreed to work with us on diversity enrichment, to help accomplish this goal, as our first Chief Diversity Enrichment Advisor. He will also join our pool of guest directors.
Our third goal, also ongoing, is to seek, find and develop talent that can expand our diverse team:
-We will hold auditions in Detroit, New York, and select Midwestern cities as well as reach out to universities and conservatories for acting and design talent and engage marginalized performers in outreach, classes and workshops.
-We will continue to seek out individuals to create a more diverse staff and Board of Directors. This has included professional DEI training sessions for our current Board members and staff and will continue with new Board members and staff. Also, learning from our dear friends at ArtEquity, a national organization helping individuals and organizations to be strategically poised to create and sustain a culture of equity, inclusion, and justice through arts and culture.
We are committed to leading with positive action and want everyone committed to our organization to join us. Please read a letter from our founder, Jeff Daniels HERE.
The Purple Rose Theatre is also working with Spektrix, a ticketing/marketing/fundraising platform, to help collect useful data regarding our patrons, donors, and artists to ensure our DEI efforts are indeed working. These tools are not only to help The Purple Rose, but to help Spektrix clients all over the world who are working on actionable steps and committed to being more inclusive.