I’ve been fascinated by magic ever since I was a kid. I would be lying if I said I don’t still occasionally imagine having abilities like Matilda Wormwood. Storytelling through theater is the closest thing to tangible magic I can experience. The process of individual imagination married with group collaboration feeds my soul in a way that is irreplaceable. Becoming a producer has encouraged me to push my personal creative boundaries and connected me to incredible artists since graduating from college in 2016. It was through my participation in various professional development programs that largely contributed to my decision to become a producer.  

In 2020, we witnessed the birth of the “We See You White American Theater” movement; a movement calling out the racism that is embedded in our field and calling in our leaders to make significant changes to create a landscape that is more equitable and anti-racist for artists who have been grossly underserved and underrepresented. A 30-page list of demands was released by this movement with the intention of holding institutions accountable to significant actions. As I read through this list, one particular demand stood out to me: 

“We demand the dismantling of internship programs, and we demand that paid entry level
positions be created in their place.”

I believe this demand is antithetical to the cause. The call to dismantle professional development programs is problematic because doing so would eliminate huge opportunities for emerging BIPOC artists to gain access to institutions in a field that already has few entryways to walk through. I owe where I am in my career now to the professional development programs I participated in and I wanted to use this platform as an opportunity to chat with other emerging BIPOC artists whose participation in these professional development programs also shaped their careers.

Ismael Lara, a current Directing MFA candidate at Northwestern University, shared, “Young artists, who have no idea how theater works and may have never been to regional theater, begin to gain access. It was my point of access.” Similarly, I turned to these season-long programs and relied on them for skill building and mentorship in a field I hardly knew how to navigate as a queer and non-binary person of color. These programs provided access to hands-on experience I was craving and helped me discover what I love (and don’t love) to do in theater while introducing me to the way theater is made. “Getting [an] apprenticeship changed the course of my life; changed the course of my career”, Lara added. These experiences helped us find our place as theater artists and developed our skills as future creators in the American Theater.

“Young people are the greatest resource any of these institutions have”, said Sabine Decatur, a dramaturg and writer based in Baltimore, MD. “Their vision is important. How do we begin to place value on that institutionally? What would it look like for that apprenticeship cohort to become a dream tank for the institution?” Instead of the traditional ‘busy work’ and coffee runs, institutions have the opportunity to instill and exchange values with young artists and reimagine what it looks like to make theater. With the constant turnover of cohort participants, institutions can stay up to date with current trends and conversations while turning out future leaders that go on to reshape the culture of our entire industry.

Rather than wholly dismantling professional development programs, institutions must conduct a 360-degree review of how these programs are marketed, executed, and compensated. There are institutions in the field with season-long programs that provide housing and use this as a justification for low or non-existing wages. This model is classist and creates a barrier for those who have little to no financial support from other sources to supplement their participation in these programs. We know that the gap of generational wealth disproportionally affects Black and Brown individuals and this model often leads to having less diverse cohorts in these programs. Allocating proper resources to them will create more equity and better mentorship to the participants – mentorship that is crucial for young BIPOC artists to have.

These programs are intended to provide us with the experience an entry-level position will require of us and dismantling them burns a huge bridge between young BIPOC artists and institutions. The number of missed connections that would result from fulfilling this demand would be devastating to the field as we continue to advocate for more focus on anti-racism and justice in it. My career wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for these programs and, while they required a lot of sacrifice, they were essential to my growth as an artist and granted me further access to a world that I was not shown or born into. Reformation is required – not dismantlement. Is it not our intention to leave behind a field that is better than when we first became a part of it for future generations?

This essay was commissioned in collaboration with SideLight, an ongoing series of curated essays from a contingent of the next generation of artists and arts leaders. As the theater and entertainment industry rebuilds and reimagines, these pieces speak directly to our present, yet also seek to envision our future.