We'll never share your details with anyone else.
September 14, 2020

JEDI update | sept 2020

SEPT 2020 MESSAGE

Pacific Theatre’s mission statement is “is to serve Christ in our community by creating theatre with artistic, spiritual, relational, and financial integrity.” Part of relational integrity is to work towards building connection with community members from all walks of life. Can we say we have been acting with relational integrity if we do not directly and forthrightly address concerns which have been brought to our attention – at great personal risk to the people involved? 

Our theatre has been and is complicit in a racist and inequitable system that harms artists outside of our community and those within our theatre. Pacific Theatre commits to the following actions in order to make our theatre a safe space for all.

Current Actions

  1. We have created an Anti-Racism working group composed of Artist, Staff and board members to help facilitate the internal work required. The group was established in June 2020 and currently comprises Julia Church (Board), Jonathan Kim (Community Designer), Kaitlin Williams (Artistic Director), Christopher Nash (Community Performer), Linnea Perry and Julia Lank (Staff).
  2. Pacific Theatre has secured funding and engaged Adeline Huynh. Adeline is the founder of the commons, a diversity and inclusion company with a focus on long term organizational transformation. be working closely to establish a foundation for sustainable change. 
  3. We are examining PT’s current ‘diversity mandates’ and restructuring them to be more honest, concrete, and actionable. We will put systems and plans in place that will support artists, patrons, and staff regardless of changing leadership and individual conflicts.
  4. We are in the process of creating a formal space where past harms enacted by the company can be expressed. Mediation with a professional third party will be provided by the theatre, with hope to provide reconciliation, closure, and/or accountability for harm caused. We welcome anyone who would like to provide feedback or communicate your experiences to e-mail our staff working group members at julia@pacifictheatre.org and linnea@pacifictheatre.org.

This Year

  1. Undertake an internal audit of the company to collect comprehensive data about the diversity of past and current seasons including artists, staff and board members. We will use this data to critically assess what diversity – across all axes – has historically looked like at Pacific Theatre. We will assess shortcomings and the successes and use them to make plans for the future, as well as to create a system holding us accountable to the change we want to create.
  2. Working to make our shows, green room, and office accessible to as many people as possible. We began this process with an accessibility audit in Fall 2018 and are committed to continuing our accessibility work including investing in tools for those with fiscal, social, and physical barriers to our shows.
  3. Create a training program for incoming staff, board members and apprentices to ensure our core team is accessible and informed in matters of justice and accessibility. 
  4. Restructure the apprentice program to ensure equity of opportunity and to remove fiscal barriers that have historically limited access to the program.

Looking Forward

  1. Build a space where people from all backgrounds not only feel welcome but want to work at Pacific, because they can see that their stories and perspectives will be valued and respected.
  2. Engage professionally with artistic creators from outside our immediate sphere: financially and creatively support new works and new artists that reflect the full spectrum of our community.
  3. Establish a safe third party reporting process for members of the community to speak on past harms or concerns. This process should remain intact going forward and be made available to all staff, artists, and Pacific Theatre stakeholders.

« | »