Stop the outrage regarding theatre Black Outs
Jeremy O. Harris, second from right, and the cast of “Slave Play” at the Black Out performance of the play in September. (Photo: Emilio Madrid-Kuser)
Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
The National Arts Center in Ottawa, Ontario, made national news this weekend when they announced a special performance of ‘Is God Is” exclusively for people “identifying as Black” on February 17th, 2023.
This brought out the predictable social media reaction from ignorant trolls online, saying these types of promotions are racist, demanding white-only screenings, etc.
Putting aside the statements made on platforms designed to amplify extremist points of view, we hear concerns about these types of events from (we just have to say it) white people in everyday life. “How does this promote racial tolerance if we segregate audiences based on skin color” is the benign version of this type of criticism, with questions about the legality of these types of events and whether this would be legally tolerated if theatres held “white outs” for certain plays.
To all of this, I simply say, “Pipe down. This needs to be celebrated, not criticized.”.
I say this for a few reasons:
1) Black Out performances like “Is God Is” in Ottawa and “Slave Play” in New York in 2019 are 100% legal in the US and Canada. On its face, this would seem to violate both countries’ accommodation laws mandating every public venue, including theatres, must not restrict access to its services based on race. However, as you will see in the fine print of these theatre-sponsored Black Outs, they specifically stipulate they will accept anybody of any race into its show. This is specifically to avoid violating public accommodation laws.*
If a Black Out does not meet all of the following criteria, you have full permission to angrily type on your keyboards about this supposed injustice:
a. The theatre does not have specific stipulations about letting anybody in of any race or creed and prohibits someone from buying a ticket to a public event based on race or creed.
b. The theatre is not hosting a private event hosted by a private group.
If neither apply, just please stop rage-tweeting about the injustice of a Black Out. You are making yourself look like a fool.
2) The notion of specific shows promoted only for a specific race or creed is nothing new. Evangelical churches have been renting out theatres for showings of Christian-themed movies and performances exclusively for their congregation for decades. And yes, these are legal too, because as said in point 1, the church is buying out a theatre and distributing tickets to its members as a private event. The theatre itself cannot sell tickets to a public venue on the basis of race or creed (and in many states, gender, sexuality, and other demographic segmentations), but they can most certainly rent out its theatre for a performance to any group it wants, regardless of their diversity.*
*I, am not a lawyer, but our legal commentary in points 1 and 2 is according to lawyers I spoke to on background for this editorial. Do not construe this as legal advice of any kind. You’re here for theatre commentary only*
3) Black Out shows are important for the Black community to see shows made about their collective experience alongside people like them. They will likely understand the content’s meaning the most, and it will make for a unique experience watching a show like “Is God Is” or “Slave Play” with people who may react similarly to them.
a. Again, this is not a new concept. Let’s take the example of evangelical Christians again. They will view a movie like “Passion of the Christ” very different than say, atheists. I happened to see Passion of the Christ in the theaters, purely for a movie reasons, not for Christian reasons, and there were people sitting behind us that snickered during certain scenes of Jesus being tortured. If I was there to watch it for a spiritual experience, those audience members would have ruined the movie for me, as I’m sure it likely did for some audience members. (I won’t get into whether The Passion of The Christ should be a spiritual experience, that’s for an OnScreen Blog column)
b. The point is we all should want and encourage everyone to see movies targeted for their specific demographic with other people from a specific demographic. For example, senior citizens should watch movies like ‘Amour’ that are about seniors dealing with senior issues. Sure, they can see it with anyone of any age, but if they see it in a room full of fellow seniors, their feelings and reactions will be in sync with the rest of the audience, and they will not feel alone in the world. It will be an entirely different experience seeing it in a theater with a bunch of 20-year-olds.
c. Same goes for Black Outs. I’m not Black, so I won’t pretend to know what their experience would be like watching a play like “Is God Is” or “Slave Play.” All I know is a Black Out for shows like that are important to them; therefore, it should be important to all of us.
Now, with all that said, as I discussed earlier, if a white person REALLY wants to go to a Black Out show, they can, whether in the US or in Canada.
I would encourage non-Black people not to go, for the main reason being they would be taking the spot of a Black-identifying person who could directly benefit from the viewing. However, if a non-Black person is truly interested in seeing another community’s reaction and feelings to a show targeted to that community, they should go, if they are respectful.
Frankly, I think the theatres, the playwrights, and the show performers should welcome them too, again, providing that they are respectful. Ultimately, we want people from different backgrounds to see how other communities react to shows made for them. That’s how they learn, that’s how they grow, and that’s how tolerance for diversity in our society can increase.
So, in summary, if a theatre featuring a Black Out performance triggers you, just remember, if you want to attend a Black Out performance, go right ahead, no one can stop you.
We saw this in action when in 2017, notorious right wing troll Stephen L. Miller (not that Stephen Miller, this one) famously crashed a woman-only screening of Wonder Woman at the Alamo Drafthouse in New York to (I think) make a point that theatres cannot discriminate based on gender in New York. He made a big show out of it on Twitter, but, what happened at the show itself? By all accounts, he kept to himself, didn’t say a peep during the movie, and left the screening coming out a with a teensy bit more (albeit fairly superficial) appreciation for the female experience of watching ‘Wonder Woman’ than he did beforehand.
So, if a right-wing Twitter troll like Stephen L. Miller can actually keep quiet in a women’s only screening and be respectful, then so can anyone, which will lead to our last piece of advice.
If you want to complain about Black Outs, stop yelling about them as performance theatre on social media, and go to one, so you can see what you are railing against. You never know, you might come out of it with a different perspective, which is the entire point of seeing plays like “Slave Play” and “Is God Is”.