A theatre statement for #BlackLivesMatter

This has been a hard piece to write. We are a theatre company based in South Devon, UK; an area which is not very diverse. If you look at our production photos you will see a huge majority, bar a very few faces, of white, British people. That is not down to company policy, that is simply down to local demographics, as to who has walked through the door. 

We would love to reach out and welcome more people of diverse origins. Not to be a "token person", we dont believe in that, but to reach out with the assurance that we are a team who actively WANTS to welcome people of all backgrounds to work together equally in a diveristy-positive creative team.  Our policies state very clearly that we are very strict about equal opportunities, and a safe space; however there can be a wide gap between words, and actually doing. 

In reality, we are founded and led by a mixed-race woman. It is not uncommon for her to be the only person who isnt "fully white" in the companys productions. Her life experience living in the area, is that she had never even seen another person who was not white until she was around 11 or 12 years old. However, race, colour and origin (or sexuality, gender, religion etc)  has never mattered within our team. We welcome people of all backgrounds, and a core tenet is that we are a safe, respectful place for everyone, in which everyone is equal, and where bullying, harrassment or other negative behaviour, on ANY pretext, is not permitted. 

EVERYONE, regardless of skin colour, should be equally respected and have equally good opportunities, and good performance roles, without being cast into negative stereotypes. EVERYONE, regardless of skin colour, should be working in a safe, positive space where they are equally respected, not treated in line with negative stereotyping.  Things like blackfacing/whitefacing, are not permitted within the company. 

In short, there is no space for racial prejudice within our company. 

We would like to invite any black-  or other ethnicity - actors or crew, to contact us to work with us, or discuss further, with full confidence of fair and equal treatment in an organisation where you are a person, not a stereotype, regardless of demographic.