The “We See You, White American Theatre” campaign may be striving to create a less racist American theater, but its impact has been felt worldwide. In Australia, a group of actors have created a similar campaign called “I Stand with the Quarter” to advocate for more diversity in the Australian theater industry. They were also inspired by Black Lives Matter.
“We wanted to take a leaf out of the way that those things had been run because they’ve been so effectively received,” said actor Shannen Alyce Quan, who was part of the Australian cast of “Six,” before the production was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s so important to do this work, to decolonize these systems and restructure, and be vocal about it.”
“I Stand with the Quarter” was born from the controversy around the 2020 Rob Guest Endowment, which is Australia’s largest musical theater scholarship. It gives a cumulative $65,000 to performers ages 18 to 25. The 30 semi-finalists of that scholarship were announced in August—and they were all white. This led to industry-wide criticisms and the scholarship was cancelled.
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In a statement, the Endowment said, “The only metric considered by our judging panel was talent. They did not consider race, colour, religion, or gender.” They also added, “We are not seeing a high number of entries from that quarter.”
From that word, “quarter,” came the “I Stand with the Quarter” movement. It was launched by a grassroots group of nine Australian performers and one director who identify as “First Nations, people of colour (POC), and culturally and linguistically diverse.” And they were all connected by their shared frustration at an industry that sidelines them.
“A lot of the casting in this country is still quite tokenistic when it comes to anyone from a diverse background,” said Quan. Actors of color are usually cast in supporting roles and “they’re rarely seen for roles that are traditionally played by white people, able-bodied people, or cisgendered people. So yeah, it creates a lot less opportunity.”
“I Stand with the Quarter” was created in September, but it has made waves already. The group has released a pledge, which encourages signatories to commit to, among other stipulations, having at least 25% Black, Indigenous, people of color, gender diverse, disabled, and body-diverse people working in their theater company and production. It also encourages individuals to advocate for more diverse voices in the Australian theater industry.
Actor Ryan Gonzalez notes that “I Stand With the Quarter” ‘struggled’ trying to find directors, producers, designers, or choreographers to join their movement. “Because there’s no opportunity there,” he said.
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So far, 2,380 people have signed the pledge. The “I Stand With the Quarter” team is also talking with theaters in Australia about how they can implement the pledge in their companies. Sydney Theatre Company has committed to the pledge. “I Stand With the Quarter” is also working with Equity, the Australian actors’ union, to make the union leadership more diverse, and to encourage the union to advocate more for these issues.
The group wants to make sure that as Australian theaters reopen, it will be more representative of what Australia actually looks like.
“It’s going to make it easier within the next year, to go, ‘Hey, when you do program your next season, think about bringing on a new program director that is a person of color, think about writing a show that celebrates First Nation, Indigenous performance,’ ” said Gonzalez, who’s played leading roles in “Jersey Boys” and “In the Heights” in Australia. “That is important that we’re on the same page to inform them. Even though at the moment we’re doing a lot of work, I think it will get to them.”
Gonzalez also believes that even though the pandemic shut down theater in Australia, it was a blessing for the industry. It forced everyone to stop and assess and allowed actors space to speak up for themselves. “I think without the pandemic, this would have never happened,” said Gonzalez. “Everyone would have been scared to speak out because we didn’t have the time to reconcile, sit with how we felt about it, and come up with a system that combats it.”
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More fuel was added to the movement’s fire when an Australian production of “Pippin” cast an actor of color from the United States in a lead role after citing problems finding an Australian actor for the job earlier this fall. But just this week, the Australian cast of “Hamilton” was announced, a cast made almost entirely of Australian actors of color (with two actors from the U.S. and two from New Zealand), proving there is plenty of non-white talent in Australian theater, creators just have to commit to look for it.
Quan is feeling optimistic about the conversations so far with producers. For one, the RGE has committed to making sure 20% of its future semifinalists are from diverse backgrounds. “I feel like, for the most part, people are listening,” Quan said. “I think there’s still some work to be done in terms of applying what they’re hearing. But I think that they’re definitely listening better than they were before.” Just like in the U.S., it is only the beginning for long overdue processes to be implemented to create an inclusive industry.
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