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A sit down chat with Founder/Artistic Director S. Robert Morgan on the who, what, when, where, why and how of a company in transition.
“The answer from our own point of view regarding why no thriving Black theatre exist in DC is complicated, multi-layered and simple all at once. First, we have to define what’s thriving in a post-COVID environment. Second, we have to more closely examine why the age old question is posed and talk about the pop-up efforts that seem to invisabilize’ those few organizations that indeed exist.”
Act II:
Compiled by Tarra Jenkins
Our last chat with Founder/Artistic Director SRM ended with a cliff hanger wherein DSC posed a follow-up question on the age old discussion about the lack of the region’s thriving Black theatre institutions.
DSC: Why does there continue to be the discussion about the lack of professional Black theatre organizations in Washington, DC??
SRM: It’s a fair question if you don’t know. And if you pose that question, you must be prepared to address questions about major funding requirements, the metrics necessary to align with those requirements as well as whose strengths were used as a template to develop those requirements. Funding levels facilitate an organization’s ability to pursue the Press as well as advertise. We must also consider that traditionally Black generated theatre has historically been under funded from within and without Washington, DC. Even when considering what I know of funding of Black theatre companies across the country, I don’t know one that has received multimillion dollar funding similar to some of the country’s more Eurocentric centered theatres. A great example might be the recent Budget Support Act passed by DC City Council that limits an organization’s support primarily funded by government sources. This following COVID? Really? And of course, it negatively impacted smaller and mid-sized organizations. A more direct example was exhibited in a comment in response to the passed budget act made by an artist permitted to speak during a public meeting of the DC Arts Commissioners. In his comments he voiced his frustration that one million dollars was spent in an entire ward of the city and eleven million dollars was awarded to one downtown organization. That could be considered the preface of Project 2025 as we have come to know it.
Invitation is important. We must also consider that in most instances those Boards and corporations responsible for approving major funding are not of color. They apparently feel more comfortable providing those levels of major funding to more European centered organizations to produce work about people of color and spoon feed the work back to those communities. Black corporations better able to award funding at those levels don’t seem to be considering deeper investments in arts organizations in the best interest of group economics. Also, we can’t ignore the impact the psychosis of slavery has had to inspire issues around trust, thus planned giving tends to be lower and individual contributions follows that pattern. There are many other considerations, but those can provide some insight to help answer that multi response question.
DSC: Tell us about what you believe to be pop-up efforts to “invisabilize’” the few Black theatre organizations that exist in the Washington, DC region?
SRM: To see that one needs to look no further than how theatre and the arts are covered, who gets the lion share of the existing coverage and the engrained belief around who might and might not attend. When you examine areas where most Black generated theatre is being produced, some Press representatives who are more than likely not Black feel unsafe entering. I have read those suggestions and had those conversations. We also have to acknowledge the general disregard for our artwork from our own perspective. The present day initiative that is placing, for the first time, more people of color at larger and historically more robust budgeted theatre companies also contributes to erasure. That effort begs the question of the need for culturally specific organizations.
Erasure also has been an action from within. In the metro area, I have often read quotes from other Black organizations stating they were the only professional Black theatre in one way or the other and it has gone uncheck by news outlets that one would think would verify the claim. Ultimately, when those types of comments are made it suggests a gap in one way or the other.
DSC: What is thriving in a post-COVID 19 environment?
SRM: That is debatable and depends on what an organization’s immediate objective is. All theatre companies are currently experiencing challenges regenerating audiences . That is facilitated by federal job cuts…and let’s be clear, if it’s a choice for most folk; theatre and the arts are always the sacrificial lamb. I have made it a point to try to attend other theatre company performances as a paying customer.
DSC: To some it is odd but you have directed past projects and one even at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Have there been any actors with..."special needs" participating?
SRM: Yes, I have. Directing is something I can do as a result of having studied theatre in a college training program. And after working in and out of theatre, teaching theatre…you can’t help but get better at it. No one does anything constantly without eventually getting better at it.
The Kennedy Center was just a reading, normally the annual or what was…I think, Page to Stage Festival. The other directing is by force, meaning we’re on a tight schedule that doesn’t allow a Directorial interview process. And no. To date I have not directed any one whom I’ve known to have a special need.
DSC: How do you achieve casting and what is your take on so called “reality casting,” being favored of late?
SRM: Well…It is interesting, obviously I ask for assistance with some visuals, but I’ve been in this business for so long that sometimes I know what an actor’s audition monologue is going to be before it’s delivered. And I know to what extent it will be affective within the first sentence. A great example was during the auditions for, “ZORA.” I always try to develop a final list of five actors ranked by performance. Other factors include availability and deportment during the audition as well as voice and movement. And yes…some actors self-eliminate. It gets very competitive when we get down to the final three. It was a vibe and we got it right that time.
DSC: So...what do actors who can see think when they come to the first rehearsal and find out they're being directed by a blind Director?
SRM: I don’t know. I suppose enough of them know at this point and are prepared or just darn good actors. I have never asked that question. And to be honest, by the time we get to actually executing production there is little time for questions not directly production related. Did you see how I brushed that off…?
I am not necessarily a fan of so called reality casting. I understand its intent, but we risk damaging the integrity of what theatre is. A great example was, without being too specific, I remember a great actor who was cast to play the role of a transgender woman. An out-cry from the trans community pressured the company’s administration to cast a transgender woman in the role. And while that too is OK, we have to keep in mind that theatre promotes an audience to suspend its imagination beyond disbelief. Actors spend enormous amounts of time and resources studying the craft of acting. I think we should allow them to exhibit that skill-set. I would champion using a transgender woman as a woman in a more creative capacity. Sometimes it can present more advantages to go against type.
DSC: What do you think of the Tyler Perry phenomena and the varying artist opinions of his body of work and how it potentially languages the manner in which Black work is perceived?
SRM: I don’t think one can truly be considered a professional practitioner without the ability to appreciate his work-Even if you don’t agree with it. Those of us who have matriculated through degree granting programs are taught that art is a made thing. And that is his art. It can’t be denied. And one cannot ignore his indelible contributions or his place in the history of television and film.
Stay tuned for Act III in our summer issue.
Miss Act I? Catch up here.
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