A message from TdR Founder Carolyn Cook
Bonjour, chers amis,
We are living in remarkable times. As I look at Theatre du Reve’s artistic future, and especially the coming season (our 25th!), I’m filled with excitement and anticipation.
You may be thinking, “Carolyn, êtes-vous folle?”
Am I crazy? Okay, maybe a little. These are challenging times. But here’s the thing: between the pandemic that closed our doors and the racial equity movement that is opening minds, I see great opportunities to learn, create, innovate, and serve.
Let’s start with racial equity. I was born in 1960. I remember the Civil Rights Movement, school integration, and the sense of joy my parents felt when it seemed as if America was finally overcoming its racist past. As nice, well-meaning white people, we celebrated those victories. We thought we were living in a “post-racial” society.
Clearly, we had blinders on.
But blinders can come off. Thanks to a powerful call to action from non-white theatre artists, I’m learning how the stories we tell on our stages either perpetuate the racialized status quo or challenge it. I’ve come to see how TdR has played it “safe” – taking small steps toward racial equity, claiming diverse programming in our grant proposals, but really producing work that is almost entirely white and Eurocentric, when there are so many Francophone stories to tell, and so many artists of color eager to tell them.
I’m not a bold activist by nature; I don’t challenge the status quo as a matter of course. I have to choose to do it, as TdR did two years ago when we developed a play, Code Noir, that celebrated a Haitian French hero. We hired a diverse team of designers and performers and worked hard to make sure we didn’t whitewash (pun intended) the project. I loved that experience. But the following season, I realized how easy it was to fall back into old patterns, to return to business as usual.
Change isn’t automatic. Change is a choice. TdR is choosing to change.
I don’t want to pretend I’m a “thought leader” or a “woke ally” or anything that makes it sound like I have answers. I have questions. Even with my degree in French, I don’t know enough about the Francophone world. I’ve been to Haiti once, but most of my experience with French is European. I know very little about the brilliant work of West African, Caribbean, and other Francophone writers.
But I can learn.
I invite you to join me this season as TdR explores poets, playwrights, novelists and thinkers from across the Francophone world. We will talk about colonialism, slavery, and racism because we must, even if they make nice, well-meaning white people like me uncomfortable. We will also talk about beauty, passion, strength, love, humility, fear, power, and maybe even redemption. God, I hope so.
Now, as for the pandemic . . .
This crazy virus calls us to become our most creative selves. TdR is dreaming up all sorts of ways to rise to the challenge, including a virtual version of our popular Salon series. When I say we plan to “create, innovate, and serve,” I mean it. Watch for a season announcement soon!