FAUX OUTRAGE FROM THE TORONTO SUN
Theatres spark outrage with black-only audience policyDavid Millward
THE TELEGRAPH
Sun, 29 January 2023
Is God Is poster
Two major Canadian theatres have sparked outrage by announcing exclusive performances for an “all black-identifying audience”.
In Ottawa, the National Arts Theatre – one of Canada’s biggest taxpayer-funded performing arts organisations – will hold its first ever “Black Out” night on February 17, at the 897-seat Babs Asper Theatre.
The organisation is putting on a performance of “Is God Is” – a revenge story about two African-American sisters written in 2018.
A similar event is planned by the Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto on February 9, with two plays: “Okay you can stop now” and “X and Da Spirit” – which was written about the author’s experiences during the Black Lives Matter protests.
According to the Toronto theatre, the purpose of the events is to facilitate “a safe environment for a personal and intimate discussion on the work made and performed by black artists”. It added that it welcomed everyone who self-identifies as black to attend this performance.
However, while white attendees could not be banned from attending the show on a Black Out night, the theatre made clear they would not be welcome.
“If someone identifies as a non-black person and requests to enter the room, a member of our team will be present to speak to that person.
“We try our best to have this labour land on a non-black staff member and we will have non-black front-of-house, leadership or technical and production team members present in the lobby to help de-escalate such situations.
“We will also specify across our ticketing and show pages, social media and other communications that the Black Out Night performance is dedicated to black audiences.
‘There will be no checkpoints’
In Ottawa, the National Arts Centre said: “No one is turned away at the door. There will be no checkpoints for Black Out Night ticket holders and no questions will be asked about the identity, race or gender of anyone”.
A non-black member of staff will be on hand to have “a chat” with anyone who seeks to defy the admissions policy.
Black Out nights started in 2019 with a performance on Broadway where the event was pitched as enabling black theatregoers to enjoy events “free from the white gaze”.
The two theatres in Canada are the latest to take up the idea.
Reaction to the Black Out nights has been hostile. Columnist Brian Lilley blasted the move in the Toronto Sun.
“What is bothersome is the apparent segregationist appeal,” he wrote.
“Rather than encouraging black theatregoers, in what is a mostly white but slowly diversifying national capital to attend, the NAC makes it sound like this event is only for black patrons.”
But Shifter, a Canadian magazine celebrating black culture, disagreed.
“Any attempt at carving out a dedicated space for racialised communities is often labelled by some as ‘racist’ and counterproductive to this Utopian kumbaya idea of all people getting along (despite the fact many individuals still don’t like Black people; even among people of colour).”
Racial discrimination has been illegal in Canada for decades. The first legislation was passed in Ontario and Saskatchewan in the 1940s and nationally in 1977, with the Human Rights Act.
Sun, 29 January 2023
Is God Is poster
Two major Canadian theatres have sparked outrage by announcing exclusive performances for an “all black-identifying audience”.
In Ottawa, the National Arts Theatre – one of Canada’s biggest taxpayer-funded performing arts organisations – will hold its first ever “Black Out” night on February 17, at the 897-seat Babs Asper Theatre.
The organisation is putting on a performance of “Is God Is” – a revenge story about two African-American sisters written in 2018.
A similar event is planned by the Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto on February 9, with two plays: “Okay you can stop now” and “X and Da Spirit” – which was written about the author’s experiences during the Black Lives Matter protests.
According to the Toronto theatre, the purpose of the events is to facilitate “a safe environment for a personal and intimate discussion on the work made and performed by black artists”. It added that it welcomed everyone who self-identifies as black to attend this performance.
However, while white attendees could not be banned from attending the show on a Black Out night, the theatre made clear they would not be welcome.
“If someone identifies as a non-black person and requests to enter the room, a member of our team will be present to speak to that person.
“We try our best to have this labour land on a non-black staff member and we will have non-black front-of-house, leadership or technical and production team members present in the lobby to help de-escalate such situations.
“We will also specify across our ticketing and show pages, social media and other communications that the Black Out Night performance is dedicated to black audiences.
‘There will be no checkpoints’
In Ottawa, the National Arts Centre said: “No one is turned away at the door. There will be no checkpoints for Black Out Night ticket holders and no questions will be asked about the identity, race or gender of anyone”.
A non-black member of staff will be on hand to have “a chat” with anyone who seeks to defy the admissions policy.
Black Out nights started in 2019 with a performance on Broadway where the event was pitched as enabling black theatregoers to enjoy events “free from the white gaze”.
The two theatres in Canada are the latest to take up the idea.
Reaction to the Black Out nights has been hostile. Columnist Brian Lilley blasted the move in the Toronto Sun.
“What is bothersome is the apparent segregationist appeal,” he wrote.
“Rather than encouraging black theatregoers, in what is a mostly white but slowly diversifying national capital to attend, the NAC makes it sound like this event is only for black patrons.”
But Shifter, a Canadian magazine celebrating black culture, disagreed.
“Any attempt at carving out a dedicated space for racialised communities is often labelled by some as ‘racist’ and counterproductive to this Utopian kumbaya idea of all people getting along (despite the fact many individuals still don’t like Black people; even among people of colour).”
Racial discrimination has been illegal in Canada for decades. The first legislation was passed in Ontario and Saskatchewan in the 1940s and nationally in 1977, with the Human Rights Act.
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