2020 felt unlike any other year in so many ways.  When faced with the challenge of producing a theatre production during a time of social distancing, the students, faculty and staff of the Theatre Arts program met that challenge with grace and grit.   

With this collection of classic and original monologues, we’ve created a virtual production that forces us to confront the long legacy of racism, sexism and overall practice of “othering” that has operated with impunity in the performing arts since its earliest incarnation.  Hamlet insists that we “hold the mirror up to nature”, and that is what we’ve tried to do here.   

It’s not easy to take a long hard look in the mirror and confront the ways in which you’ve been a complicit part of systemic forms of oppression.  There’s no denying the greatness of Shakespeare’s writing, but when his work is taught or produced without contextualizing the rampant racism and sexism that runs throughout it, then a silent message that these attitudes are permissible can be the only takeaway.   

This conceptual production is a small step in the collective journey of establishing greater equity in the performing arts.  May our next strides be even longer.