Theatre Department Resources for Promoting an Equitable Society in Theatre and Theatre Education

Statement of Belonging, Dignity, and Justice

The faculty and staff of the Department of Theatre at VCUarts unequivocally condemn all forms of bigotry, racism, and anti-Blackness. We are determined to support all our students by mindfully creating a culture of both safety and accountability within our department where BIPOC students feel seen and all our students feel valued. We seek to include, reflect, and give agency to the varied experiences of our community being mindful of the historically marginalized AAPI, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and ADA communities.

UNIVERSITY RESOURCES:

VCU and the School of the Arts provide a number of resources to assist traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented student populations:

University Counseling Services

Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA)

VCU Libraries

Anti-Racism and Theatre

Articles:

• “10 Works Over 5 Years by Black Playwrights. All Intended to Unnerve”.  NY Times, April 2019.
• “Four Black Artists on how Racism Corrodes the Theatre World”, NY Times, June 2020.
• “How These Black Playwrights are Challenging American Theatre,” NY Times, April 2019
• “Playwrights are calling out racism in theater. Their art lights a path to justice,” Los Angeles Times, June 2020

Works by BIPOC Playwrights:

• ‘An Octoroon’ by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (2014)
• ‘Barbecue’ by Robert O’Hara (2015)
• ‘Underground Railroad Game’ by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard (2016)
• ‘Kill Move Paradise’ by James Ijames (2017)
• ‘Fairview’ by Jackie Sibblies Drury (2018)
• ‘What to Send Up When It Goes Down’ by Aleshea Harris (2018)
• ‘Pass Over’ by Antoinette Nwandu (2018)
• ‘Slave Play’ by Jeremy O. Harris (2018)
• ‘White Noise’ by Suzan-Lori Parks (2019)
• ‘Ain’t No Mo’ ‘ by Jordan E. Cooper (2019)

• ‘Raisin in the Sun’ by Lorraine Hansbury
• ‘Notes from the Field‘ and ‘Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992‘ by Anna Deavere Smith
•  ‘for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf‘ by Ntozake Shange
• ‘Fences’ by August Wilson
• ‘Jitney’ by August Wilson
• ‘The Colored Museum’ by George C. Wolfe
•  ‘Mulatto‘ by Langston Hughes (1935)
•  ‘Dutchman‘ by Amiri Baraka (1964)

LGBTQIA History and Theatre

Articles:

• “10 plays that have shaped LGBTQ+ theatre history” London Indoors, February 2019.

LGBTQIA plays to read for Pride Month:

• The Captive Play by Edouard Bourdet (1934)
• for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange (1975)
• The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley (1968)
• Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein (1978)
• Bent by Martin Sherman (1979)
• Last Summer at Whitefish Cove by Jane Chambers (1980)
• Angels in America, Tony Kushner (1991)
• The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project (2000)
• God of Vengeance by Donald Margulies (2003)
• Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet by Tarell Alvin McCraney (2010)
• Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori (2015)
• Ms. Blakk for President by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau (2019)

Further Resources