Further Thinking About Never After

[lillibet]

Since the performances of Never After this weekend, I've read many posts and received many emails talking about how wonderful the show was, how much people enjoyed the production and congratulating us on such a huge success. Thank you to all of you who've written and to everyone who was at the show--our audiences were the best we've ever had, both

Comments

[lillibet]

I think my critics do have exactly that. They have all praised most aspects of the show and congratulated me on the success of it. This was a concern and, I think, a valid one, that we should be more careful of the messages we're transmitting. I haven't been worrying about it--really, the conversations have been very pleasant and productive--and I do think that putting some time into examining how we might send more concrete messages of welcome and awareness is time well spent.

[cos]

IMO, reactions like this one are possibly a larger problem than the casting itself. I'm very glad that Theatre@First's reaction is very different. If T@F had referred to these complaints as "just silly fretting about an irrelevant -- in this case -- politics of representation" then I'd really worry about racism at T@F.

[cos]

I've already addressed in other comments the suggestion that anyone who thinks this is a legitimate point must obviously believe she shouldn't have been cast in that role. If that were merely a claim, I'd find it simplistic and lacking in thought; but as an assumption (you're not claiming it, you're assuming it's so obvious you don't even have to claim it) I find it rather offensive. If you're upset by unintentional uncivility, do chew on that one.

Irony: This whole issue is one of unintentional uncivility to begin with, in a way.

I'd rather not label you as a person. I definitely find your reaction here to be both insensitive and blind. I hope you don't think that's something I need to hide in this discussion because saying it is uncivil - if you believed that, you shouldn't have made your initial comment (because really, talk about uncivil - the comment you started this thread with tops the rest by an order of magnitude, IMO

[anonymous]

Somehow, I think if you were a person of color, this issue would not be "just silly fretting". True, racism did not play a role in the casting, but if you are a black person looking at this from the outside, it would make you wonder. And yes, this is a situation where you should be investing time and worry. Luckily civil rights do not depend on those who live in your reality.