Indiana Repertory Theatre to bring back in-person INclusion series performances
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Diversity in theater is taking center stage again at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Now that they are back in person, they are bringing back the INclusion series — and theater representatives say it’ll be entertaining and maybe even educational.
Organizers say they’re bringing back the INclusion series to amplify minority playwrights while also amplifying diverse voices.
The theater has a way of taking you inside a world in which you may not normally live — and that’s always been the idea. But the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s INclusion series is taking specific care to make sure those worlds have a little more added diversity.
“It is very intentionally welcoming audiences into this building who may not have felt it was work they wanted to see before. And those were audiences of color,” said Janet Allen, Margot Lacey Eccles artistic director.
The second prong of that work: educating white audiences.
“The INclusion series is also meant to say to white audiences, ‘Hey, these may be pieces of American moments that you don’t know anything about or you should know more about,’” said Allen.
The INclusion series this year includes two performances, both written by people of color and highlighting their history.
The first: “The Reclamation of Madison Hemings” — a story about one of Sally Hemmings’s (a former slave) and President Thomas Jefferson’s children — and “The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin”– a story spotlighting the Chinese Exclusion Act.
“Beyond the final curtain is still important because these issues continue to exist after the play is over,” said Julian Harrell. He is the chair for the inclusion, diversity, equity and access (IDEA) committee.
After the play, audiences can participate in community conversations.
“Amplifying the voices in the background and stories that are in these plays — they really help create a conversation. And I think they also create a visceral experience for the people who come and get to see and witness the play,” he said.
The INclusion Series opens in March.