The news coming out of North Carolina’s theater scene is slightly confusing, but what it sounds like is a classic case of sexist sabotage.
As IndyWeek reports, on Tuesday of last week, Jerome Davis, the artistic director of the Burning Coal Theatre Company, issued a press release announcing “that an alliance of nine theater companies in Raleigh, Durham, and Sanford had agreed to hire women to direct any 2017–18 season productions their organizations had not already assigned.”
The decision was apparently made in response to the election and the team wanted to “make the point that women are a central part of our world and our work, and that they deserve to be in positions of leadership as much as men do.”
The companies that signed the agreement included Black Ops Theatre Company, Honest Pint Theatre, Justice Theater Project, Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre, Sonorous Road Productions, Temple Theatre, and the Women’s Theatre Festival.
This is exactly the kind of initiative that small companies or arts creators need to take in order to eventually get women on equal footing as men in the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, that plan was foiled by a man crying misandry. The day after the announcement was made, a Raleigh resident named Matthew Davis emailed a complaint to Sarah Powers, executive director at the Office of Raleigh Arts, alleging that the new initiative violates the city’s nondiscrimination policy.
“Because of my gender, I will not have an opportunity to direct one of [Justice Theater Project]’s shows in the coming year,” the complaint read. “This is not what we should be doing as a community. It is wrong. We are not this.” He requested that all 2016–2017 funds to the the Justice Theater Project be withheld until “they agree to hire directors in a non-discriminatory manner.” (Burning Coal and North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre also receive city funding.)
Unfortunately, the Justice Theater Project then withdrew from the alliance. “Since we have a woman artistic director who directs most of our shows, it was very easy for us to say yes to the alliance, but we already had men lined up to direct some key shows,” managing director Melissa Zeph said. “Upon reflection, we don’t feel comfortable with the wording of the alliance’s initial missive. It was never our intent to discriminate against any entity.”
What a massive shame that an amazing initiative to get more female directors into regional theater was derailed by a single complainer who simply couldn’t accept the fact that, for most of history, men have had vastly more opportunities than women in every field. The alliance wasn’t even going to result in every production being directed by a woman, simply that, for the productions still remaining with no director, they would hire women. IndyWeek didn’t specify how many productions that was, but when so many full theatrical seasons are directed by men without a single thought, was it really such a shame to have a male minority (if that even was the case) for a single season? That even one of the companies caved on a single complaint is rather weak, in our opinion.
As it turns out, the companies aren’t even sure if the complainer exists. As IndyWeek continues, “Emails sent to Justice Theater Project, the Office of Raleigh Arts, and the INDY identified the writer only as “a Raleigh taxpayer” whose name, according to his Gmail account, is Matthew Davis. The writer refused our requests for an interview and refused to confidentially confirm his or her identity as a Raleigh resident. As of this morning, the email account used to send the complaint had been deleted.”
It’s cowardly to oppose an initiative that would give historically disenfranchised women the opportunity to advance, and even more cowardly to hide behind the anonymity of the internet to do so. We call on the theater companies who have dropped out to reaffirm their status in this alliance and give more women in North Carolina theater the opportunity to direct.
