Headlines across the United States are warning teachers that their jobs might be at risk if the contents of their bookshelves do not align with the controversial “values” of the conservative elected officials. As novels and books of poetry are being yanked off library shelves, rehearsal rooms and auditoriums are dangerously following these patterns as theatre educators are being asked to weigh their desire to stage a play that addresses homophobia or racism with their fear that doing so might lead to their dismissal. The Educational Theater Association released a survey of teachers in June 2023 that found that 67% say censorship concerns are influencing their play selections for next school year. Quoting their Executive Director, Jennifer Katona in the New York Times (4 July 2023) “We’re seeing a lot of teachers self-censoring, even if it’s just a bunch of girls dressed as ‘Newsies’ boys, which would not have been a big deal a few years ago, that’s now a big deal.” The issue crosses political divides in different ways as there have been objections to gay characters in Almost Maine, racism in South Pacific, and bullying in Mean Girls. What does it mean today to stand by the words and intentions of playwrights and what impact does censoring have on children and teenagers whose first experiences of theatre might happen amidst swirls of community controversy? In some ways, it affirms that theater matters. That we must take seriously how what happens on school stages, ripples into our school hallways, homes and communities.
At Youth Theatre Journal, we are proud to be publishing work that celebrates diversity, centers equity and racial justice and hopefully offers research, reflections and creative work that will inspire you, and provide some examples and inspiration for change. We invite you to meet “Gray,” a nonbinary performer who, in an interview with theatre educator Derek Herman, shares their experience navigating auditions, casting, rehearsals and their life as a gender nonconforming teenager in high school theatre. In the past year, more than 400 bills have been proposed, limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ young people, stripping their rights to gender affirming medical care and access to books and course materials with characters that look and love like them. Amidst new proposed laws dictating what teachers are and are not allowed to say in front of students, we need more spaces where young queer voices are heard and shared. Like Gray, more than 300,000 young people identify as gender nonconforming. In their YTJ interview, “Navigating the college theatre audition process as a non-binary performer: An interview between ‘Gray’ and Derek Herman,” they express their call to action:
For there to be any change, it goes beyond just referring to me by my pronouns. It’s having conversations when there might be a situation in which there are binary categories like dressing rooms, bathrooms, or award categories. Things are going to move to a better place when conversations are had, and actual restructuring is done. Aside from all the sort of surface level let’s go around the circle and say our pronouns situation.
In this issue, our second as Co-Editors, we present works that not only share recent research, but also provide articles, reflections and interviews (such as Derek and Gray’s interview) proposing strategies for how youth theatre can address and challenge the growing injustices in our communities. We are inspired by the comprehensive research that Andrew Walton undertook in “Uncovering LGBTQ+ theatre for youth: A survey of published plays,” where he and his team offer dozens of play titles along with analysis for plays that speak to LGBTQ+ youths’ experiences of their worlds. Knowing fully that too many of these plays could be banned or censored from secondary school drama programs, we invite community artists and activists to use these titles in your advocacy, to produce these plays in your neighborhood or your local afterschool theatre program and ensure that the kids who attend schools with “Don’t Say GayFootnote1” laws on the books, can see and hear themselves in their communities.
For educators, scholars and artists (and really everyone) passionate about how to address racism in high school, we are thrilled to share the script, video of the Zoom-ed production and creative team’s reflection of the original play, “Another Play About Racism: A Film” written collaboratively by a group of high school students. In opposition to recent legislation banning critical race theory and dictating if and how teachers can even mention race and racism in their classrooms, we share this play, a roadmap for how to talk about racism within a high school community. This timely play addresses a specific racist event at a high school and with nuance, courage, and grace, offers a powerful guide for teenagers and their teachers to navigate how to rebuild a broken community, after a rupture.
We quote from a lightly edited version of the play’s prologue:
ALL: We invite youTimsil: We invite you not to sit back and watchNora: But we invite you to think, to embraceTo become.
ALL: We invite youLiam: This story we tell is but a memoryMarcela: A distant thought that lingers and changesAs years go byKalen: This memory is through sets of many eyesViewed through rose-colored glassesAnd sight that becomes crystal clear
ALL: We invite youVeronica: We ask ourselves, does it take but a spark?Timsil: Or does it take flint banging on rocks?Liam: Does it take the beat of a single heart?Kalen: Or does it take the marching of the many?
ALL: We invite youNora: We ask you to forget what you knowAnd see what could be, what isVeronica: The many lies and truths of societyMarcela: The ones that are spoon-fedand pushed down our throatsLiam: The ones that burn and twist and shape and corrupt
ALL: We invite youKalen: This is a story of many questionsMarcela: Who’s at fault?Nora: Who’s the villain?Timsil: Who’s the hero?Veronica: Who are the angels and devils that were written in scriptureJust as colored by roses as our eyes
ALL: We invite youLiam: In a time where black squares and empty promises defineWhat it means to go against the patriarchyNora: Instead of the actions that create a revolution
ALL: We invite youTimsil: Not to leave this space of criticalityKalen: Leaving this memory behindLike the distant thought it becameMarcela: But leaving this space ready to confrontThe many faults of society.
ALL: We invite you
We are also mindful in the ways that we share work through an anti-racism lens. We wholeheartedly support this play project that illuminates the pain and trauma caused by racism. We know how vital it is for young people, particularly those from marginalized groups, to see themselves and their stories represented on stage. And yet, we are just as committed to amplifying work that reinforces and amplifies the brilliance, the strengths and the positive contributions from colleagues of the Global Majority. We need to document, take action against and heal from racism at the same time that we celebrate diversity. In this issue, we share video and annotated commentary from Tabitha Harriet Deh as she writes about and offers Ghanaian Indigenous games that we hope you might consider learning and playing as you imagine your theatre classrooms and rehearsal studios. Reading about the games truly does not do them justice, and we are proud to make use of the digital technology that allows us to watch the theatre facilitators in action and see the games as they’re meant to be played.
As we come to the close of our first year as co-editors of the Youth Theatre Journal, we look back on the progress we have made and the goals we set out to accomplish when we first began. Our mission was to provide a platform that amplifies and lifts up diverse scholarship and advances the overall knowledge in the field with greater innovation. We wanted to create a space that welcomes and affirms all voices and brings together theory and practice for the benefit of the theatre education community. We are pleased to report that we have made great strides in our efforts to fulfill this mission. Through “Notes from the Field,” we have provided this digital space for young theatre practitioners to share their voices, experiences and insights. We have included works from contributors from a variety of backgrounds and have sought to broaden the definition of “academic scholarship” to include different forms of presentation.
As part of our commitment to creating a collaborative atmosphere amongst our contributing authors and editors, we have facilitated three workshops, in-person at the American Alliance for Theatre Education annual conference and online on Zoom for folx around the world, whose aim is to demystify the publishing process and encourage more artists, educators and practitioners to share their insights from their work. We believe that by encouraging dialogue and exchange of ideas, we can create a more inclusive theatre education community. We have been encouraged by the enthusiasm and support from our readers and contributors and it is this spirit that will help drive our mission forward in the coming year. As we move into our second year as co-editors of YTJ, we look forward to continuing our work and seeing the impact it will have on the field. We thank you for your support and are excited to see what the next year brings.
Notes
1 The 2022 Florida Parental Rights in Education law, often referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” Law, “prohibits classroom instruction to students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 3 on sexual orientation or gender identity. For Grades 4 through 12, instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited unless such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards … or is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend.”