Melissa Poll

In July 2017, I travelled to Ashland, Oregon to audit rehearsals for Off the Rails, Choctaw artist Randy Reinholz’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, set, in part, in an ‘Indian’ boarding school. My postdoctoral research continued three months later in Vancouver, British Columbia, where I attended rehearsals for Missing, a chamber opera about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls with libretto from Métis/Dene playwright Marie Clements and music by settler composer Brian Current. These two experiences formed the foundation for my Contemporary Theatre Review article, ‘Towards an Eighth Fire Approach: Developing Modes of Indigenous-Settler Performance-Making on Turtle Island’.

Observing the rehearsal processes for these productions was profoundly generative for me as a dramaturg, prompting questions surrounding the ways in which the principles of equity and inclusion could be incorporated directly into theatre-making processes, instead of tagged on through externally-led initiatives like EDI [Equity, Diversity and Inclusion] employee training from consulting agencies. In the summer of 2018, I began talking with a theatre colleague about the possibility of developing a creative position dedicated to advancing equity and inclusion in artistic praxis and supplanting prevailing Western working norms that marginalise diverse voices. He expressed interest, detailing how Bard on the Beach, the Vancouver-based repertory Shakespeare company where he serves as an artistic associate, had increased BIPOC representation on stage but had strides to take in better supporting artists from equity-seeking groups in the performance-making process and beyond.

Below is an articulation of where my work began piloting the role of Equity and Inclusion Dramaturg in 2019, the ways in which it was contextualised by the global racial reckoning, and where, ultimately, it aspires to go.

I would like to thank Peter Fernandes, Dion Johnstone, Evangelia Kambites, Dillan Meighan-Chiblow, Sugith Varughese, and all of the artists whose vital social media posts unflinchingly called out systemic and institutionalized racism in Canadian theatre in the spring of 2020. Thank you to Claire Sakaki, Christopher Gaze, and Dean Paul Gibson at Bard at the Beach for supporting my practice-based research.

Beyond the Optics of Ally-ship: Equity and Inclusion Dramaturgy in Development¹

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Ontario’s Stratford Festival handed over control of its social media feeds to Black theatre-makers. Soon after, BIPOC artists across Canada responded to the #inthedressingroom hashtag with impassioned posts highlighting the endemic racism occurring at many Canadian theatre institutions. Actor training programs and companies were critiqued for the underrepresentation of theatre-makers from equity-seeking groups, discriminatory casting practices, and a backstage culture wherein artists of colour are marginalised by those in leadership roles.² This outpouring speaks to a broader need to dismantle systemic discrimination in Canadian theatre, including the continued barriers faced by BIPOC artists, performers with disabilities, women, older adults, trans and non-binary people, and those whose lived experiences occupy the intersections of these and other minoritised identities.³

Through a combination of practical application and theoretical grounding, my practice-based research articulates a new form of dramaturgy dedicated to enabling theatre companies and academic and training departments to take quantifiable, anti-racist, anti-oppressive action in their work. These actions include incorporating cultural dramaturgies into performance-making processes, increasing the number of BIPOC artists in creative leadership roles, and identifying and removing barriers to entry for artists from equity-seeking groups. Named Equity and Inclusion dramaturgy, this practice functions to advance equity and inclusion through methods of redaction and annotation; EI dramaturgy renders visible both the invisibilised labour of minoritised and racialised performers and the endemic power imbalances in performance praxis and contexts.⁴

FIGURE 1. TWEET BY DION JOHNSTONE (SOURCE: AUTHOR SCREENSHOT).

As a cis, white, settler woman, I am aware of my precarious and potentially problematic position in this work. My goal is not to speak for but to speak with underrepresented groups. Equity and Inclusion dramaturgy is a response to the ‘identity taxation’ or increased labour and further marginalisation of minoritised people through the assumption that they are responsible for educating white people and performing equity work.⁵ I believe aspects of this labour can be offloaded to those who choose it, including culturally competent white settlers; nonetheless, it is a balancing act in which potential allies must guard against occupying positions and spaces that are not ours to take. Part of an EI Dramaturg’s work is being continually attuned to power relations including those between themselves and the artists; this is a relational, process-based practice.

This essay functions to document and expand my current work piloting the role of EI Dramaturg at Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival (BoB), a large, not-for-profit Western Canadian theatre festival dedicated to exploring Shakespeare’s plays and ideas through new play development and contemporary adaptations. Informed by my history as a freelance dramaturg and my first-hand experience as an actor and educator at BoB, this early iteration of EI dramaturgy has aspired to disrupt discriminatory norms at the institutional level as well as identify how individual scripts, adaptations, and production concepts traffic in racialisations and/or minoritisations. This dedicated work with BoB is part of a larger exploration of EI dramaturgy’s potential. Its objectives include:

1. To articulate an original model of dramaturgy, tested in rehearsal and documented in peer-reviewed publications, that aids in decolonising how dramaturgy is theorised, practiced, and taught.
2. To identify and propose alternatives to the common systems and policies shaping Canadian repertory festivals that create barriers to entry or limit participation based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and/or age.
3. To document the protocols and practices—in partnership with local Nations—with which a theatre company can respectfully engage to amplify Indigenous voices and artistry. Once home to the Sen̓áḵw village, which was violently destroyed by settlers in the early twentieth century, BoB is located beside territory that has been returned to the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) Nation and will be the site for a 6,000-resident district. Beyond land acknowledgments, how will the festival employ their artistic practice to live in good relations with their incoming neighbours in the ‘new’ lower mainland district of Sen̓áḵw?
4. To position the EI Dramaturg to hold theatre companies accountable for their anti-oppressive, anti-racist social media statements. Since the flood of social media posts about systemic discrimination in Canadian theatre, statements of ally-ship have proliferated. What are the quantifiable actions being taken by theatre companies and training institutions in response to systemic racism and how is the community being kept abreast of these shifts?
5. To articulate dramaturgical strategies for subverting harmful and regressive representations of race, gender, ethnicity, ageing, and disability in Shakespeare. How can The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, and King Lear, among others, be re-imagined for contemporary audiences?

FIGURE 2. EXCERPT FROM A TWEET BY EVANGELIA KAMBITES. 5 JUNE 2020. (SOURCE: AUTHOR SCREENSHOT).

My theorisation of EI dramaturgy marries new and traditional dramaturgical forms and practices with the conceptual foundations of anti-racism and Indigenous resurgence to reimagine how the dramaturg can be uniquely positioned to advance equity and inclusion initiatives. Building off of G.E. Lessing’s foundational concept of script dramaturgy and Bertolt Brecht’s formulation of production dramaturgy, the past two decades have seen a blossoming of dramaturgical forms and theories.⁶ These include dramaturgies that are no longer tethered to the dramatic text, such as new media dramaturgy and dance dramaturgy as well as forms that break from dramaturgy’s cis, white, male origins, among them Indigenous dramaturgies, Black dramaturgies of abolition and refusal, and queer dramaturgies. Veteran dramaturg Brian Quirt notes that investing in cultural forms is imperative to the development of theatre in Canada: ‘There are more stories by a diverse body of artists drawing on more forms and traditions that we must cultivate by offering them access to the resources of theatre companies and festivals’.⁷ Quirt places the responsibility on Canadian dramaturgs to diversify the landscape, urging us to use our positionality to advocate for new forms, traditions, and voices—ultimately, changing theatre companies from within.⁸

My research responds to this call in part by exploring how creating space for cultural dramaturgies and the artists/scholars who develop and practice them can provide invaluable support to theatre-makers from a variety of backgrounds. Alongside the Indigenous dramaturgies posited by Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi scholar Jill Carter and deviser Justin Many Fingers (Kainai Nation), mixed Algonquin scholar/dramaturg Lindsay Lachance has theorised land-, place-, and community-based relational dramaturgies. Techniques like birch bark-biting privilege Indigenous epistemologies, offering a powerful way to include and honour Indigenous artists in intercultural collaborations.⁹ Feminist dramaturgies offer further possibilities to EI dramaturgy. Vancouver’s Shameless Hussy Productions has developed plays about sexual assault and human trafficking by fostering support networks within and beyond the rehearsal hall. When exclusion is tied to policies that fail to take cognitive impairment into account, Julia Henderson’s dramaturgies of assistance provide innovative frameworks for inclusion. An alternative to the memorization of text, dramaturgies of assistance allow performers with age or dementia-related memory loss to share their stories through live performance grounded in relationality, musicality, and, in some instances, on-stage transparency with regards to memory loss.¹⁰These three dramaturgical forms—a sampling among many others—offer strategies for decolonizing both the practice and the position of the dramaturg. They embody equity and inclusion in action; as such, they are part of the best practices for which EI dramaturgy advocates in theatre more broadly.

Beyond a committed exploration of various dramaturgies and collaborations with their creators, my work engages with anti-racism. Anti-racism has invalidated ‘colour-blindness’ as an equalizing force, demonstrating that it is ‘inevitably and constitutively infused with unacknowledged structures of power’.¹¹ The history of racism and its oppressive intergenerational repercussions prohibit this imagined state of baseline equality. And yet, in Canadian theatre, ‘colour-blind’ casting persists. African-Canadian playwright Djanet Sears, has highlighted this issue, describing how actors of colour are frequently ‘asked to appear as people who look like they do in society, while at the same time are encouraged to leave the richness of their cultural histories at the stage door’.¹² Scholars like Ayanna Thompson and Brandi Wilkins Cantanese point to the ways in which ‘colour-blind’ casting further entrenches racist beliefs, by, for example, relegating Black actors to supporting and/or desexualized roles.¹³ Actor, playwright, and producer Omari Newton advocates, instead, for colour conscious casting, writing ‘If you want to introduce characters of colour into your story as a writer, director or producer, please do so in ways that encompass our complex history and our lived experiences’.¹⁴ EI dramaturgy seeks to promote colour-conscious casting strategies and how privileging actors’ agency in authoring their characters can offer alternatives to the historical and cultural amnesia of ‘colour-blind’ representations. This dramaturgical approach does not, however, conflate privileging the agency of BIPOC artists in authoring their characters with the expectation that they act as unpaid cultural experts and/or historians in rehearsal—additional, uncredited labour that is often expected of them. Instead, BIPOC scholars, cultural consultants, and historians will be engaged to perform  this work in collaboration with directors from racialised or minoritised groups. Anti-racism also looks to institutions and systems as the site of pervasive racism, prompting questions surrounding the ‘As Cast’ policies that are a mainstay of Canadian repertory companies. These policies often see actors of colour agreeing at the point of signing a contract to play un-named, undefined minor roles, removing their agency and requiring them to traffic in stereotypical caricatures of race, ethnicity, and/or gender after they have signed a contract.¹⁵ The EI Dramaturg is in a unique position to advocate for the removal of these policies in favour of transparent casting practices that make all performers aware of the roles they will play prior to agreeing to participate in a given season.

FIGURE 3. EXCERPT FROM TWEETS BY SUGITH VARUGHESE, 6 JUNE 2020, (SOURCE; AUTHOR SCREENSHOT)

Theories of Indigenous resurgence are also central to my research. Stó:lō scholar and curator Dylan Robinson incisively critiques what he has calls ‘inclusionary performance’.¹⁶ This settler-led intercultural performance subset may physically include Indigenous artists but offers them no artistic input or control.¹⁷ Such ‘collaborations’ engage in cultural appropriation, divorcing Indigenous words, songs, dances, and/or sacred objects from their attendant histories, baldly inserting them into Western performance frameworks. Musqueam artist Quelemia Sparrow has spoken emotionally about her experiences with cultural appropriation. When working as an actor, her knowledge, dramaturgical skills, and ceremonial dress were subjected to strategic ‘borrowing’ by settler directors and designers at Canadian Shakespeare festivals.¹⁸ The EI Dramaturg is acutely aware that Indigenous stories cannot be told without Indigenous artists in leadership roles. Another vital principle of Indigenous resurgence theory that informs EI dramaturgy is the need for what Métis artist and scholar David Garneau calls dedicated ‘spaces of irreconcilable Aboriginality’.¹⁹ These are spaces in which Indigenous artists and/or scholars can work with Indigenous epistemologies free of settler incursion.²⁰ In my intercultural dramaturgy practice, creating spaces where settlers and Indigenous artists can, in Robinson’s words, ‘do some work together apart’, has translated into the non-negotiable policy that Indigenous playwrights are shepherded by Indigenous dramaturgs.²¹ I am also aware of the more literal creation of settler-free zones for Marie Clements’s opera Missing; during rehearsals, an ‘Indigenous-only’ table was offered as a refuge for Indigenous artists portraying the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Indigenous epistemologies will play a vital role in terms of a potential theatrical collaboration between BoB and the Squamish Nation, particularly given the history and future of Sen̓áḵw. As the Squamish Nation councillor Khelsilem states, such partnerships require an assessment of readiness through the following questions: ‘Within the settler organization, what is the level of awareness and understanding of Canada’s history? Do they acknowledge the truth [of Indigenous genocide and oppression]?’.²² When BoB is ready, they will need to enter into a formal conversation with the Squamish Nation through a protocol agreement or reciprocal benefits document. My role in this process will include ensuring BoB has taken the time necessary to build trusting relationships, exploring how the partnership can be mutually beneficial, identifying potential inequities prior to the collaboration’s beginning, and encouraging BoB to privilege Squamish epistemologies. Honouring such epistemologies could range from considerations of the natural world and its non-human life forms to working with Squamish performance-makers to explore their cultural dramaturgies. I would also advocate for the involvement of the BC First Peoples’ Heritage, Language, and Culture Council which acts, as Robinsons has noted, as a cultural liaison with a vested interest in the flourishing of Squamish language and culture, providing guidance on how to honour protocol and establish effective communication.²³

FIGURE 4. TWEET BY DILLAN MEIGHAN-CHIBLOW ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL-THEMED MUSICAL CHILDREN OF GOD BY OJI-CREE PLAYWRIGHT COREY PAYETTE, (SOURCE: AUTHOR SCREENSHOT)

My first season as a freelance EI Dramaturg for BoB began in early 2020. The contract involved reading scripts and meeting with the season’s directors to pose questions and provide feedback on their adaptations and production concepts. Though the season was later cancelled due to COVID-19, I was able to see the potential and lay the groundwork for EI dramaturgy. In one meeting, I worked with a director to revise a scene that, through proposed blocking and costuming of female-identifying performers, ran the risk of venerating the male gaze, a concept with which I am familiar as a woman who has worked as a professional actor. In another meeting, I recommended the artistic team conduct historical research that would enable them to appropriately suggest a backstory for a young Haida actress cast in a production set in 1920s Chicago. These meetings saw me problematising and challenging potentially problematic politics of representation, including an ageist caricature, and encouraging more nuanced approaches to characterizations. I also provided preliminary feedback on a play in development by Oji-Cree playwright Corey Payette and suggested he be paired with his current dramaturg, Algonquin playwright Yvette Nolan. This initial EI contract involved discussions about how the company might better honour the traditional, ancestral, and unceded Squamish territory they occupy. I proposed that the company could expand on the principles of their pre-show land acknowledgment by offering spectators opportunities to tour the Indigenous territory now occupied by the festival and learn its history. As BoB invests in forging trusting relationships with the Squamish Nation, this tour will ultimately be authored, curated, and led by a Squamish Culture Bearer. Finally, in May 2020, I provided input on BoB’s Black Lives Matter solidarity statement, suggesting actionable outcomes and the promise of regular, public updates on the company’s progress.

FIGURE 5. TWEET BY PETER FERNANDES, (SOURCE: AUTHOR SCREENSHOT)

My ability to instigate meaningful change at BoB will develop through sustained engagement. Moving forward (through my upcoming work on the 2022 season and beyond) I will theorise and document the practice of EI dramaturgy—a role that will ultimately encompass script and production dramaturgy as well as new play development and policy input. I will chart how (and if) the company’s equity and inclusion objectives are being realized on a production-to-production basis, offering an alternative to the numerous national equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives that have gained attention and institutional support but have struggled to significantly shift statistical inequities.²⁴ (Examples include The Pledge, an initiative to increase productions of female-authored plays and the incorporation of EDI-oriented prizes by various awarding bodies).²⁵ I hope to facilitate BoB’s developing commitment to BIPOC artists through every stage of production, encouraging the company to enlist EI consultation (from any source) through season planning, auditions, and rehearsals to ensure its EDI goals are being met. I will also propose a season post-mortem focusing on the ways in which BoB’s EI goals are being met and where further work is necessary. For example, the festival has never employed a performer with a visible physical impairment, prompting questions surrounding how institutionalised norms are creating barriers for artists with disabilities and what shifts the company needs to make to welcome these performers. Most importantly, my research with the individual BIPOC artists engaged by BoB will continue to be guided by respect and reciprocity. With some artists, I will have already built the long-term, trust-based relationships that have guided my previous research;²⁶with others, I will be beginning anew. My approach will be collaborative, observing relevant cultural protocols and worldviews. None of my findings will be published without the consent of the artists involved; article drafts will be provided for their feedback and approval.

More broadly, I hope to disseminate the practice of EI dramaturgy through publications, one of which will be an edited collection in which the BIPOC dramaturgs and scholars who have collaborated with me at BoB will offer reflections and analyses on their experiences with the EI model. Among its objectives, this publication will respond to the dearth of writing about dramaturgy by people of colour. I also hope to translate my research and praxis into course material that will challenge Eurocentric views of canonicity and approaches to dramaturgy, decolonising the field by interrogating the many rich possibilities that dwell outside Western traditions.

Melissa Poll is a dramaturg and settler scholar whose research has been published in Contemporary Theatre Review, Body, Space & Technology, and Theatre Research in Canada. She is the author of Robert Lepage’s Scenographic Dramaturgy: The Aesthetic Signature at Work (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).