Share the Stage

Founded in 1962, the original mandate of the Shaw Festival was to celebrate the works of George Bernard Shaw; a playwright who’s political integrity and dramatic power has altered theatre forever. For decades, the Festival has produced some of the finest theatre in North America, using some of the greatest actors this country has ever seen. And it is for this very reason that I have become incredibly concerned about something that was said to me by an employee of the company.

I had submitted a play to the Festival for consideration and it had been turned down. This didn’t upset me. If you’re a playwright in this country you’re used to rejection letters. What concerned me was the reason. It was made clear to me that they play would never get produced at Shaw because the cast had too many people of colour.

The person who told me this information made it clear that they were disgusted with the policy of the theatre, but she would rather be honest with me, and allow me to find a theatre that would be sincerely interested in working with me. And I did. I was able to get the support I needed to get the play produced. But, what was said to me, haunts me. Does the Festival actually have a policy to exclude people based on race? I decided to pay attention to the amount of diversity on the stage, and season after season I have to say that my concerns have not been put to rest.

If you have read any of his work, you would know that George Bernard Shaw was a staunch critic of discrimination. Canada has become a wonderful multi-ethnic cultural mosaic. Time and time again, this has been considered one of this nations strengths, that so many people, from so many different cultures share the same country in peace and prosperity. I honestly believe that if Shaw were alive today, he, too, would embrace our diversity as a strength and not a weakness. And we are very fortunate to have many, MANY, performers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, who are more than capable of performing lead roles in any of Shaw’s greatest works.

Now, of course, there are many white actors who have not been hired by the Festival, who could easily say to me, ‘Look, Andrew, just because I’m white, that doesn’t mean that Shaw is knocking down my door to hire me’ And I would say to you, ‘Anytime we tear down the barriers of discrimination, it helps us all.’ Actors of colour do not want to take the stage away from you, we desperately want to share the stage WITH you.

Now, how does this concern you? Well, good question. First off, I’m not interested in name calling, I just want to find a solution. I believe that Jackie Maxwell, the Artistic Director of the Festival is an intelligent person, who will listen to reason. That’s where YOU come in. If together we could convince her that members of her audience, and the businesses who support the theatre, and the community surrounding the Festival all support diversity, then I believe change can happen. To this end, I would like to start the ‘Share the Stage’ Campaign. Below I have listed the email addresses of Jackie Maxwell, the Artistic Director of the Theatre (jmaxwell@shawfest.com) I urge you to send an email. The message doesn’t have to be elaborate. You can simply put cut and paste these words – ‘We can all share the stage.’ into the email. That, in itself, is enough.

I honestly believe that together we can make a difference. That together we can celebrate our difference, and that can change the world we live in.

I thank you for your support.

Andrew Moodie